Department for Transport

Cycling: Accidents

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many cyclists have died or suffered serious injuries where the cause has been attributed to poorly-maintained roads by (a) local councils, (b) Highways England, (c) Transport Scotland and (d) the Welsh Government in each year since 2007.

Jesse Norman: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 27 February 2018.The correct answer should have been:

The numbers of reported cyclist fatalities and serious injuries that have been recorded in Great Britain for each year since 2007 where poorly maintained roads could be considered to be a contributory factor is provided in the table. A breakdown for all the road networks specified is not available centrally.The heading “Poor or defective road surface” cover columns 2 and 3 of the table. Whilst, the heading “Inadequate or masked signs or road markings” cover column 4 and 5.Reported cyclist serious and fatal injuries in GB where poorly maintained roads is reported as a contributory factor1Poor or defective road surface Inadequate or masked signs or road markingsYearReported Cyclist FatilitiesReported Cyclist Serious InjuriesReported Cyclist FatilitiesReported Cyclist Serious Injuries200721505200801807200912905201062508201134214201234103201313811120141550102015145011201646007Source: DfT STATS19 reported road casualties 1 Includes only casualties where a police officer attended the scene and in which a contributory factor was reported. In 2016, this related to 73% of reported accidents. By way of context, cycling in Great Britain has increased over the time period in question, rising from 4 billion kilometres in 2007 to 6 billion kilometres in 2016. It should be that noted that contributory factors assigned by police officers do not assign blame for the accident to any specific road user, however they do provide some insight into why and how road accidents occur. They give an indication of which factors the attending officer thought contributed to the accident. Officers do not need to carry out a full investigation of the incident before allocating contributory factors; they usually use professional judgement about what they can see at the scene. Not all accidents are included in the contributory factor data; only accidents where the police attended the scene and reported at least one contributory factor are included. A total of 73% of accidents reported to the police in 2016 met these criteria although each accident can have multiple contributory factors attributed to them.

Jesse Norman: The numbers of reported cyclist fatalities and serious injuries that have been recorded in Great Britain for each year since 2007 where poorly maintained roads could be considered to be a contributory factor is provided in the table. A breakdown for all the road networks specified is not available centrally.The heading “Poor or defective road surface” cover columns 2 and 3 of the table. Whilst, the heading “Inadequate or masked signs or road markings” cover column 4 and 5.Reported cyclist serious and fatal injuries in GB where poorly maintained roads is reported as a contributory factor1Poor or defective road surface Inadequate or masked signs or road markingsYearReported Cyclist FatilitiesReported Cyclist Serious InjuriesReported Cyclist FatilitiesReported Cyclist Serious Injuries200721505200801807200912905201062508201134214201234103201313811120141550102015145011201646007Source: DfT STATS19 reported road casualties 1 Includes only casualties where a police officer attended the scene and in which a contributory factor was reported. In 2016, this related to 73% of reported accidents. By way of context, cycling in Great Britain has increased over the time period in question, rising from 4 billion kilometres in 2007 to 6 billion kilometres in 2016. It should be that noted that contributory factors assigned by police officers do not assign blame for the accident to any specific road user, however they do provide some insight into why and how road accidents occur. They give an indication of which factors the attending officer thought contributed to the accident. Officers do not need to carry out a full investigation of the incident before allocating contributory factors; they usually use professional judgement about what they can see at the scene. Not all accidents are included in the contributory factor data; only accidents where the police attended the scene and reported at least one contributory factor are included. A total of 73% of accidents reported to the police in 2016 met these criteria although each accident can have multiple contributory factors attributed to them.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Natural Gas: Shortages

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what mechanisms are in place to compensate (a) households and (b) businesses for the disconnection of gas due to a shortage of available gas supply on the network.

Claire Perry: Under the gas Quality of Service Guaranteed Standards, set by Ofgem, after the first 24 hours of a gas disruption, affected householders will be compensated for time without gas. A domestic customer will receive £30 for each 24-hour period without gas, which is paid automatically through their gas supplier. Small businesses will receive £50 for each 24-hour period without gas, which will also be paid automatically through their gas supplier.

Natural Gas: Storage

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the extent of (a) total gas storage capacity and (b) empty gas storage capacity in the UK.

Claire Perry: National Grid publish figures on storage daily. This includes: opening stock, daily flows and available capacity. National Grid’s figures indicate that Great Britain, as of the 7th March 2018, has a maximum storage capacity of 13,188 GWh and 9,165 GWh of available storage capacity. These figures reflect the status of the market at a certain point in time and are subject to change depending on supply and demand.

Natural Gas: Storage

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the level of gas storage capacity of the UK; and what estimate he has made of the level of gas reserve capacity currently available.

Claire Perry: National Grid publish figures on storage daily. This includes: opening stock, daily flows and available capacity. National Grid’s figures indicate that Great Britain, as of the 7th March 2018, has a maximum storage capacity of 13,188 GWh and 4,023 GWh of gas available in storage. These figures reflect the status of the market at a certain point in time and are subject to change depending on supply and demand.

Natural Gas: Weather

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the levels of gas supply in the UK between 25 February 2018 and 4 March 2018; what assessment he has made of the adequacy of those levels; and if he will review the gas storage resilience of the UK to meet severe weather demand.

Claire Perry: The 8 days between 25 February and 4 March 2018 saw temperatures across Europe fall well below their seasonal average, resulting in significant increases in gas demand. On 1st March, demand peaked at 418million cubic metres per day (mcm/d), which is about 40% higher than the demand normally expected at that time of year. Nonetheless, gas supplies into the UK were responsive, meeting demand throughout the week. The Government published a strategic assessment of gas security of supply in October 2017 and will consider gas storage resilience, as part of its process of continual assessment of gas security of supply.

Energy: Standing Charges

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made an estimate of the cost of daily standing charges on (a) electricity and (b) gas bills for (i) households and (ii) households that require a social tariff in each of the last 10 years.

Claire Perry: The following table shows the daily average standing charge on standard electricity and gas bills for all domestic households from 2010 to 2017. We do not hold data on the standing charge of individual domestic tariffs. The figures are presented in 2017 real prices, calculated using Tables 2.2.4 and 2.3.4 from the Quarterly Energy Prices and adjusted to remove the effects of general inflation – data is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/annual-domestic-energy-price-statistics . YearDaily average standing charge on domestic standard electricity bills (pounds)Daily average standing charge on domestic gas bills (pence)20100.140.2920110.170.3220120.180.3320130.190.2820140.200.2620150.200.2520160.190.2420170.200.24

Energy: Standing Charges

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has powers to restrict above inflation increases in daily standing charges on (a) electricity and (b) gas bills.

Claire Perry: The setting of a standing charge is a commercial matter for individual energy supply companies. Typically standing charges recover the fixed costs to suppliers, such as accounting and billing, in addition to the unit rate charged for energy consumption. Suppliers are free to offer tariffs with a low standing charge or, even set the standing charge at zero to attract low energy users, with the fixed costs included in a higher unit rate which customers only pay when using energy. The Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill will introduce an absolute temporary price cap on standard variable and default tariffs for domestic customers. The cap, set by Ofgem, will regulate the maximum amount that standard variable and default tariffs can charge, including the combined standing charge and unit rate.

Energy: Prices

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on household energy bills of UK withdrawal from the EU internal energy market.

Claire Perry: As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister said in her Mansion House speech the Government is currently exploring options for the UK’s continued participation in the EU’s internal energy market. Maintaining affordable energy supplies for both the UK and the EU is a key objective of the future partnership that the UK is seeking with the EU.The Government is undertaking a wide range of analysis looking at the implications of UK withdrawal from the EU, examining all areas of the UK economy and seeking input from a wide range of stakeholders. Ministers have a specific responsibility, which Parliament has endorsed, not to release information that would undermine our negotiating position.

Energy: Storage

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what representations he has received on the levels of business rates levied on properties used for onsite battery storage; and what assessment he has made of the effect of those levels of business rates on the battery storage sector.

Claire Perry: The Valuation Office Agency, an agency of HM Revenue and Customs, is responsible for assessing the rateable value of onsite battery storage. The Agency is currently speaking to the storage industry to understand how to value energy storage facilities for business rates purposes. The Agency has also requested information from industry on completed and planned battery storage schemes to assist with this work.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Morocco: Human Rights

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the state of human rights in Morocco.

Alistair Burt: ​We are encouraged by the steps Morocco has taken in recent years to address human rights concerns, including its ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT), and ending the practice of trying civilians in military courts. We continue to monitor and raise human rights issues with the Moroccan authorities and support Morocco's efforts to make progress on human rights.

Ahmed Aliouat

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will discuss the imprisonment of Ahmed Aliouat with his Moroccan counterpart.

Alistair Burt: We are aware of the case of Ahmed Aliouat. We continue to monitor and raise human rights issues with the Moroccan authorities, and will raise individual cases where there are grounds to do so.

Sudan: Commonwealth

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his Department's policy is on Sudan joining the Commonwealth.

Alistair Burt: The first step for entry to the Commonwealth for any aspiring member is to indicate to the Commonwealth Secretariat that it would like to join.Decisions on membership are made by consensus by all Commonwealth member states. Any aspiring member would need to meet the criteria for membership, particularly in relation to human rights, good governance and the rule of law.

Sri Lanka: Religious Freedom

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the Government of Sri Lanka on violence perpetrated against Sri Lanka's Muslim minority.

Mark Field: ​I am deeply concerned by the recent inter-communal violence in Sri Lanka and I wrote to Foreign Minister Marapana on 7 March setting out the British Government's views. We support the Government of Sri Lanka's action in swiftly bringing the violence to an to end and urge it to hold the perpetrators to account. It is vital that all leaders in Sri Lanka condemn violence and hate, and make every effort to promote harmony.

Sri Lanka: Human Rights

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the Government of Sri Lanka on the establishment of a country office of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in that country.

Mark Field: The UK has not to date made representations to the Government of Sri Lanka on the establishment of a UN country office. The High Commissioner for Human Rights has a number of Special Rapporteurs who travel to Sri Lanka on his behalf and publish findings from their visits and the Government is engaging constructively with them. The UK is committed to working with the Government of Sri Lanka to implement its international human rights commitments.I encouraged Foreign Minister Marapana to continue to make progress on these commitments when I met him in October 2017. The UK is also providing Sri Lanka with £6.6 million of Conflict, Stability and Security Fund funding over three years, to include support for police reform and training, reconciliation and peace building, and demining in the north of the country.

Sri Lanka: Religious Freedom

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the extent of freedom of religion or belief in Sri Lanka after recent reports of religious-based violence in Kandy.

Mark Field: I remain concerned by the recent inter-communal violence in Sri Lanka and I wrote to Foreign Minister Marapana on 7 March setting out my views. Prior to the recent inter-communal violence in Sri Lanka, we assess that there was a worrying growth in incidents of religiously motivated violence and communal tensions in Sri Lanka in 2017. We welcome steps taken by the Government of Sri Lanka to address these issues and encourage the authorities to ensure that those responsible for inciting religious hatred are held accountable.The UK is committed to supporting government and civil society efforts to improve human rights in Sri Lanka. We are currently funding a range of projects through a multi-year Conflict Stability and Security Fund programme to promote inter-faith and inter-communal dialogue and dispute resolution at local level in eastern Sri Lanka, one of the most diverse regions. Sri Lanka remains an FCO Human Rights Priority country.

China: Religious Buildings

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations his Department has made to the Chinese authorities on the demolition of (a) Christian churches, (b) Tibetan Buddhist institutes and (c) religious buildings in China.

Mark Field: ​We have been concerned for some time by continued reports of the closure or demolition of places of worship across China, including Tibet. We raised our concerns directly with the Chinese authorities at the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue in Beijing on 27 June 2017.We consistently urge the Chinese authorities to respect all rights across the People's Republic of China, including freedom of religious or belief, in line with both its own constitution and the international institutions and frameworks to which it is a party.

Israel: Palestinians

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Israeli counterpart on the abduction of the university Student Council President at Birzeit University in the West Bank on 7 March.

Alistair Burt: ​While we are aware that the Birzeit University Student Council President was arrested on campus on 7 March, we have not raised this issue with the Israeli authorities.

Israel: Palestinians

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the levels of (a) violence and (b) harassment towards Palestinian university (i) students and (ii) staff in the West Bank; and what recent assessment he has made of the effect of those levels on student education.

Alistair Burt: ​While no assessment has been made about this particular issue, we strongly condemn all acts of violence and all incitement to commit acts of violence. We consistently urge Israel to ease movement and access restrictions across the Occupied Palestinian Territories, not least because of the impact the restrictions on continuity of education.

Palestinians: Education

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure the protection of the right to education in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Alistair Burt: UK support to the Palestinian Authority helps to employ vetted education public servants in the West Bank, including teachers. This enables around 25,000 young Palestinians to receive an education each year. Additionally, UK support to the UN Relief and Works Agency assists in the provision of basic education to around 500,000 children across the region. The UK will continue to urge the Israeli authorities to ease movement and access restrictions across the Occupied Palestinian Territories, not least because of the impact that the restrictions have on children and the continuity of their education.

Jerusalem: Palestinians

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has made representations to his Israeli counterpart on the new legislation passed by the Knesset on 7 March 2018 which allows the Israeli Minister of Interior to revoke the permanent residency status from Palestinian residents of Jerusalem; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv raised this issue with the Israeli authorities on 15 February, noting the importance of ensuring that the legislation is compatible with Israel’s obligations under international human rights law.

Pakistan: Religious Freedom

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the state of freedom of religion and belief in Pakistan.

Mark Field: ​We remain concerned about restrictions on freedom of religion and belief in Pakistan, particularly the misuse of the blasphemy laws. Blasphemy laws are used against people of all faiths, although minority communities are disproportionately affected. Our concerns are reflected in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annual Human Rights Report.We regularly make clear our concerns about freedom of religion and belief and the protection of minority communities with the government of Pakistan. We do so at a senior level. During my visit to Pakistan last year, I raised our concerns about the treatment of religious minorities, including discrimination and violence against them, with the Federal Secretary of Pakistan's Ministry of Human Rights. My colleague, the Minister for Human Rights, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, raised the issues of freedom of religion and belief and the protection of minority religious communities with Pakistan's Interior Minister, Ahsan Iqbal, in February 2018.

Patras Masih

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department holds information on the recent incident in Shahdara, Lahore where an allegation of blasphemy was made against a young Christian called Patras Masih; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department holds information on allegations that the Pubjab Police did not protect Patras Masih from attack by Labaik Ya Rasool Allah party extremists in Shahdara, Lahore on 19 February 2018; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department holds information on allegations of violence by officers of the Federal Investigation Agency against Patras Masih and his cousin Sajid Masih in Lahore on 23 February 2018; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department holds information on allegations of coercion by officers of the Federal Investigation Agency towards Sajid Masih to perform a perverse sexual act on his cousin Patras Masih; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of whether the inquiry proposed by the Government of Pakistan into the conduct of Federal Investigation Agency officers by other officers of that Agency would be sufficiently independent; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Field: We remain deeply concerned by the blatant misuse of the blasphemy laws and the treatment of minority religious communities in Pakistan. While we are aware of reports of this distressing case, we hold no specific information and have not made an assessment.We routinely raise our concerns about the misuse of the blasphemy laws and the protection of minority communities with the Government of Pakistan at a senior level. During my visit to Pakistan in November 2017, I raised the treatment of religious minorities, including discrimination against the Christian and Ahmadiyya communities, with the Ministry of Human Rights. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Mr Johnson), discussed religious tolerance and misuse of the blasphemy laws during his visit to Pakistan in November 2016. The Minister for Human Rights, Lord Ahmad, raised our concerns about Freedom of Religion or Belief and the protection of minority religious communities with Pakistan's Interior Minister, Ahsan Iqbal, in February 2018. At the UN Universal Periodic Review of Pakistan in November 2017, the UK pressed Pakistan to strengthen the protection of minorities and to explain the steps being taken to tackle the abuse of the blasphemy laws.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Members: Correspondence

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, when his Department plans to respond to the correspondence dated 11 January 2018 from the hon. Member for Colne Valley on a constituent’s concerns about leaving the EU.

Mr Robin Walker: The Department for Exiting the European Union responded to the hon. Member for Colne Valley’s correspondence regarding her constituent’s concerns about leaving the EU on Monday 12 March 2018.

Labour Mobility

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to the Prime Ministers  speech of 2 March 2018 on the UK’s future economic partnership with the EU, what the definition is of self-employed professionals in relation to future labour mobility arrangements; and whether reciprocal arrangements will be part of the process.

Mr Robin Walker: Freedom of movement is ending but there will continue to be migration and mobility between the UK and the EU after the UK leaves. The Prime Minister has made it clear that the Government is open to discussing with the EU how to facilitate the valuable links between our people. We want to limit the number of barriers that could prevent UK firms from setting up in the EU and vice versa, and agree an appropriate labour mobility framework that enables businesses and self-employed professionals to provide services to clients. We will discuss these arrangements with the EU in due course - at every step of the negotiations, we will work to ensure the best possible outcome for the British people.

Borders: Northern Ireland

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what the Government's policy is on the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland when the UK leaves the EU.

Mr Robin Walker: The Prime Minister reaffirmed her commitments to the Northern Ireland and Ireland border in her speech at Mansion House, recognising the unique circumstances in Northern Ireland, and our shared commitments to avoiding a hard border. The Joint Report also made clear that it is our intention to avoid a hard border and any physical infrastructure or related checks and controls between Northern Ireland and Ireland through our overall UK-EU relationship. If this does not prove possible, we will then propose specific solutions to address the unique circumstances of the island of Ireland. In the absence of agreed solutions, the UK will maintain full alignment with those rules of the internal market and the customs union which, now or in the future, support North-South co-operation, the all-island economy and the protection of the 1998 [Belfast] Agreement. We have always been clear that we will not agree anything that threatens the constitutional or economic integrity of the UK. We have pledged to translate all of the commitments made in the Joint Report we published with the EU Commission in December into a legally binding Withdrawal Agreement. This includes all of those on Northern Ireland and Ireland. We remain absolutely committed to doing so.

Brexit

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 12 March 2018 to Question 130823, whether the Government is carrying out a leak inquiry into reports that a BBC journalist received access to a Market Access Assessment in November 2017.

Mr Robin Walker: The Government does not comment on specific leak investigations. We take all leaks of information very seriously.

Financial Services: UK Trade With EU

Richard Graham: What estimate the Government has made of the value of the UK’s financial and professional services to the EU.

Mr Robin Walker: The ONS estimates that the UK exported £27bn of financial services to the rest of the EU in 2016, as well as £23.7bn of professional services such as legal services and management consultancy.We will be seeking a bold and ambitious free trade agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union. This should be of greater scope and ambition than any such agreement before it so that it covers sectors crucial to our linked economies, such as financial and professional services. We believe that such a deal is in both the UK and the EU’s shared economic interest.

Service Industries

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: What recent discussions his Department has had with representatives of the services sector on the implications for that sector of the UK leaving the EU.

Mr Robin Walker: We continue to engage regularly with companies and trade bodies across the services sector, to discuss their priorities and inform our negotiating position.The Prime Minister set out in her Mansion House speech the Government’s proposal for a deep and comprehensive future partnership with the EU, including a broader agreement in services than ever before. This should include a labour mobility framework that enables travel to provide services to clients in person, and continued mutual recognition of professional qualifications.

Department of Health and Social Care

Hospitals: Bullying

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department uses the expertise of big companies that have implemented a successful grievance and anti-bullying mechanism for sharing best practice in that field with hospitals.

Stephen Barclay: The Department commissioned the national Social Partnership Forum (SPF) to lead the Call to Action, a campaign to tackle bullying in the National Health Service. During the development of the Call to Action the Department and the SPF liaised with other sectors for examples of good practice. This included BT and Royal Mail from the private sector and Durham, Cardiff and Newcastle universities. The SPF also identified a wide range of expertise in tackling bullying across the NHS and has used these case studies to form the basis for sharing best practice with hospitals and other NHS organisations. The information gained in the development process ensured that the SPF’s Call to Action is based on compelling evidence and front line experiences, establishing evidence-based effective interventions at individual, organisational and system level.

Doctors: Sexual Offences

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the ability of the General Medical Council (GMC) to investigate concerns about the sexual misconduct of doctors working in the NHS; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of lifting the GMC's five-year rule on investigations relating to such misconduct.

Stephen Barclay: All United Kingdom registered doctors are expected to meet the professional standards set out in the General Medical Council’s (GMC) Good Medical Practice. If an allegation of misconduct is made about a doctor who may not meet the professional standards required, the GMC has a duty to investigate and take action to safeguard the health and well-being of the public. In serious cases fitness-to-practise proceedings can result in doctors being removed from the medical register. The GMC has confirmed that if it considers an allegation to be in the public interest, it will investigate no matter how much time has passed. Under s.35CC(5) of the Medical Act, an allegation which is more than five years old will only be investigated where it is in the public interest to do so. Five years is considered a reasonable time frame for an allegation to be brought. After that time there may be practical issues for investigation, for example the accessibility of evidence. It would not be appropriate for the regulators to use their resources on cases where there is limited evidence when there is no public interest in investigating.

Midwives: Resignations

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of midwives who have left NHS employment in England by age-group in (a) total and (b) each year since 2010.

Stephen Barclay: NHS Digital publishes workforce statistics and the following tables show the age profile of midwives who have left the National Health Service in total and each year since 2010. Turnover data is based on headcount and shows people leaving or returning to active service, this would include those going on or returning from maternity leave or career break, for example. Headcount totals are unlikely to equal the sum of components due to some staff working in more than one role. Due to the way that turnover statistics are calculated the number of leavers between November 2010 and November 2017 will not equal the sum of the leavers for each year. NHS Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS): Midwives who have left NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in England by age group, in total, from November 2010 to November 2017, headcount Midwives (Headcount) who left the NHS between November 2010 and November 2017All age bands8,072Under 2530325 to 2958930 to 3461735 to 3956540 to 4466145 to 491,10350 to 541,90655 to 591,46760 to 6472265 and over139Source: NHS Digital, HCHS workforce statistics HCHS: Midwives who have left NHS trusts and CCGs in England by age group, in each year from 2010 to 2017, as at 30 November, headcount  2010-112011-122012-132013-142014-152015-162016-17All age bands1,9132,0362,1892,2612,5312,7052,683Under 258411710913713312212625 to 2930732832840241754354230 to 3436539642744846251950435 to 3921025326123430930733440 to 4416915916514616017717045 to 4911913613715515815212650 to 5418421123024128427830155 to 5922020528024835532134860 to 6418918620720620021517865 and over66454544537154Source: NHS Digital, HCHS workforce statistics

Allergies

Jon Cruddas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many trainees qualified in allergy in (a) 2016 and (b) 2017 and how many will qualify in 2018.

Stephen Barclay: The number of doctors who obtained their certificate of completion of training in the allergy specialty and paediatric allergy, immunology and infectious diseases in 2016 and 2017 is shown in the table below: Medicine Group specialty/subspecialtyCompleted in 2016Completed in 2017Allergy20Paediatric allergy, immunology and infectious diseases42Source: Health Education England The number of trainees that will qualify in 2018 will be known at the end of the academic year. Primary care also has a vital role in the management of allergies. The Royal College of General Practitioners offers a range of resources to educate general practitioners about the various presentations of allergic disease, how to assess an atopic patient and when to investigate in primary care or refer to secondary care.

Social Services: Finance

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effect of changes to social care funding on the mental health of social care recipients.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of causal links between inadequate social care and poor mental health.

Caroline Dinenage: Social care is vital to enable people to live healthy and independent lives. This is why, against the context of tough public sector finances; we have taken steps to protect social care services. At the spring budget we announced an additional £2 billion will be given to councils over the next three years for social care from 2017/18. In total, we have given councils access to £9.4 billion more dedicated funding for social care over the next three years from 2017/18. More recently the Local Government Finance settlement announced a further £150 million for social care. The Government has set out plans to publish a Green Paper by summer 2018 presenting its proposals to reform care and support. More broadly, the Care Act 2014 creates a ‘well-being principle’ to underpin the care and support system, meaning that people’s well-being, and the outcomes which matter to them will be at the heart of every decision that is made – this applies equally to carers. Overall spend on mental health was £11.6 billion last year. We are also making available £1.4 billion on children and young people's mental health and eating disorders over the course of this Parliament. In January 2016, we announced an additional £1 billion over the five years to 2021 to improve mental health liaison services in accident and emergency, 24/7 crisis care and home treatment teams, and perinatal mental health, with this funding starting to hit the National Health Service front line from last April.

NHS: Licensing

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that no entity will be granted a licence under NHS Improvement's new guidance on the oversight of NHS-controlled providers until after the conclusion of the  national consultation on accountable care organisations.

Stephen Barclay: No accountable care organisations (ACOs) currently exist and they will not exist until NHS England has completed a full consultation. No commissioner will be able to use the draft ACO Contract unless NHS England makes it available following the end of a proposed consultation exercise. NHS England would only consider making the contract available after carefully considering consultees’ responses to the consultation. Guidance on whether an organisation is required to hold an National Health Service provider licence – known as the licence exemptions regulations – is published by the Department. A provider which holds the ACO contract will be subject to the same NHS Improvement provider license requirements as any other provider of NHS services. The licence exemptions regulations have not been affected by NHS Improvement’s guidance on NHS-controlled providers, which instead outlines changes to the oversight to which a small number of providers that are already required to hold a licence are subject.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve the medical records held by GPs on the number of patients GPs have seen who have been diagnosed with ME/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Steve Brine: Under the terms of their contract with NHS England, general practitioner practices are required to keep adequate records of the attendance and treatment of all their patients, including those who have been diagnosed with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Hospitals: Parking

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS hospitals in England (a) publish and (b) publicise financial information on car parking at their hospitals.

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS hospitals in England (a) publish and (b) publicise summarised (i) complaint information on car parking and (ii) actions taken.

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS hospitals in England publicise details of (a) charges, (b) concessions and (c) additional charges on their website.

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS hospitals in England publicise details of (a) charges, (b) concessions and (c) additional charges on patient (i) letters and (ii) forms.

Stephen Barclay: The information requested is not collected centrally. The Department published clear guidelines (the car parking principles) for National Health Service organisations that they are expected to follow, which are available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles The car parking principles recommend that NHS trusts should publish:- their parking policy;- their implementation of the NHS car parking principles;- financial information relating to their car parking; and- summarised complaint information on car parking and actions taken in response. Details of charges, concessions and additional charges should be well publicised including at car park entrances, wherever payment is made and inside the hospital. They should also be included on the hospital website and on patient letters and forms, where appropriate. Hospitals should put concessions in place for those who most need help including disabled people, carers and staff who work shifts. The NHS itself is responsible for ensuring that charges are fairly applied. Patients, visitors and staff who have problems with car parking should therefore contact the NHS organisation which runs the car park.

Hospitals: Parking

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS hospitals in England with contracted-out parking have imposed a requirement the contractors be members of (a) the British Parking Association and (b)  Independent Parking Committee.

Stephen Barclay: The information requested is not collected centrally. National Health Service trusts are responsible for the actions of any private contractor they may employ to manage their hospital car parking service.

Hospitals: Transport

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS Trusts in England provide transport between their hospital sites, for members of staff whose duties require regular travel between hospitals.

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS hospitals in England waive parking charges when an overstay is beyond the control of the driver.

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much money was spent by NHS staff on parking charges at their place of work each year since 2010.

Stephen Barclay: The information requested is not collected centrally. The provision of parking spaces and the level of any charges that are made to use them are matters for individual National Health Service trusts. NHS organisations must have the autonomy to make decisions that best suit their local circumstances. Hospitals should put concessions in place for those who most need help including disabled people, carers and staff who work shifts. The NHS itself is responsible for ensuring that charges are fairly applied. Patients, visitors and staff who have problems with car parking should therefore contact the NHS organisation which runs the car park.

Hospitals: Parking

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment is Department has made of the effect of NHS hospitals in England charging staff to park on the area surrounding the hospital on people who live in that area.

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his oral contribution of 1 February 2018, Official Report, what steps he is taking to revisit his Department's guidance, NHS patient, visitor and staff car parking principles.

Stephen Barclay: The information requested is not collected centrally. National Health Service organisations have the autonomy to make decisions locally on the provision of charges and how car parking is managed for patients, visitors and staff, taking account of their local circumstances. The Department keeps its 2015 guidance on NHS patient, visitor and staff car parking regularly under review.

NHS: Temporary Employment

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much money NHS trusts have spent on agency and contract staff in (a) each year since 2010-11 and (b) 2017-18 to date; and how much each NHS trusts plans to so spend in 2018-19.

Stephen Barclay: Total figures for agency expenditure are available for National Health Service secondary care in England for each year from 2013-14 to 2016-17 but not before it. NHS secondary care figures are in the following table: YearTotal NHS secondary care expenditure on agency staff in England (£ billion)2013-142.5892014-153.1892015-163.6322016-172.935 A number of measures have been introduced by the Secretary of State to bring secondary care agency spending under control including price caps, procurement frameworks and expenditure ceilings. These have contributed to the NHS spending around £700 million less on agency in 2016/17 than in the previous financial year. Trust agency expenditure at Month 9 (Q3) in 2017/18 was at £1,779 million, with the forecast outturn at £2,363 million (for the end of 2017/18). This represented a £108 million or 5.7% underspend against the planned ceiling and is £441 million or 20% lower than the comparable period last year. Planning for 2018/19 trust spending targets is ongoing. Therefore, this information cannot be provided at this stage.

Food: UK Trade with EU

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the EU counterparts relating to the Food Standards Agency's document, Regulating Our Future on the implications for food exports and food companies' access to the single market after the UK leaves the EU.

Steve Brine: The United Kingdom Government has not conducted any formal discussions with European Union Ministers regarding the Food Standards Agency (FSA) regulatory transformation programme, Regulating Our Future (ROF). The UK Government continues to engage with the FSA in the delivery and implementation of its strategic regulatory programme, ROF. The FSA uses an open policy - making approach. This means that it will continue to share thinking, ideas and concepts related to the delivery and implementation of the ROF programme with UK Ministers and wider stakeholders before any policy options are agreed through a formal consultation process. The UK Government will need to be assured as the UK prepares to leave the EU that there remains a robust and effective regulatory regime for maintaining the safety and authenticity of food for the benefit of UK consumers and the UK food industry.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that all clinical commissioning groups offer three full cycles of IVF to women under the age of 40 who have been trying to get pregnant for 2 years.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The level of provision of infertility treatment is decided by local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and will take into account the needs of the population overall. NHS England has advised that it recognises that there is a great deal of interest in the quality and availability of in vitro fertilisation services, and is developing a benchmark price that the National Health Service pays for fertility treatments, which will become available for use in 2018/19. NHS England is also working with CCGs and various stakeholders including the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, to understand how best to help them commission fertility services.

General Practitioners: Greater London

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the GP to patient ratio for (a) Redbridge Clinical Commissioning Group and (b) other clinical commissioning groups in London; and if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of those GP to patient ratios.

Steve Brine: The general practitioner (GP) to patient ratio for Redbridge Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and other CCGs in London is presented in the table below.GP to patient ratio as at December 2017:Redbridge CCGLondon Average1 to 2,3001 to 2,200 Redbridge Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has been working with NHS England to plan workforce capacity across Barking and Dagenham, Havering and Redbridge. The CCG has successfully bid for NHS England funding to support recruitment of 21 GPs from overseas. The CCG is also transforming primary care, in line with the GP Forward View, to provide a wider skills mix in practices, so reducing the demand on GPs whilst ensuring patients still receive the clinical care they need.

General Practitioners: Redbridge

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the GP to patient ratio was for Redbridge Clinical Commissioning Group in each year since 2010.

Steve Brine: The general practitioner (GP) to patient ratio for Redbridge Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is presented in the table below. DateSeptember 2015September 2016September 2017December 2017GP to patient ratio1 to 2,3001 to 2,3001 to 2,4001 to 2,300 The CCG does not hold data pre-dating 2015 and only began collecting in September 2015. Data was collected annually in 2015 and 2016. The process then changed and by 2017, the data was captured quarterly. The current GP to patient ratio captured December 2017 is 1 to 2,300. This is based on a registered population size of 314,967.

Huddersfield Royal Infirmary

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timetable is for the Independent Reconfiguration Panels report on the potential downgrading of Huddersfield Royal Infirmary to be made public.

Stephen Barclay: Last year, the Calderdale and Kirklees Joint Health Scrutiny Committee referred to the Secretary of State the Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group’s and Greater Huddersfield Clinical Commissioning Group’s proposals entitled “Right Care Right Time Right Place – Proposed future arrangements for hospital and community health services in Calderdale and Greater Huddersfield” under the Local Authority (Public Health, Health and Wellbeing Boards and Health Scrutiny) Regulations 2013. The Secretary of State has asked the Independent Referral Panel for their advice on this matter, and an announcement will be made in due course.

Child Sexual Abuse Independent Panel Inquiry

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to implement the recommendation of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse's Child Migration Programmes Report on establishing a compensation fund for former child migrants.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department plans to comply with the recommendation by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse's Child Migration Programmes Report that a government scheme for compensation to former child migrants should be established without delay and operational within 12 months.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to adopt the recommendation by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse's Child Migration Programmes Report that a Government scheme for compensation to former child migrants should apply to all former child migrants covered by previous Child Migration Programmes.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse's Child Migration Programmes Report.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to adopt the recommendation on page 150 of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse's Child Migration Programmes Report, published in March 2018, that no regard be had to any other payments of compensation that have been made in particular cases to former child migrants by previous Child Migration Programmes.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Successive Governments have accepted that the policy of child migration was misguided and deeply flawed. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse published its Report on the Child Migration Programmes on 1 March. We are considering the content of this report and will provide a formal response in due course.

NHS Trusts: Subsidiary Companies

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the terms that new non-TUPE members of staff were employed on by wholly-owned subsidiaries of NHS trusts in the 2016-17 financial year.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department has provided to NHS trusts on the future hiring of new non-TUPE staff on contracts with their wholly-owned subsidiary companies.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many new non-TUPE members of staff were hired directly by wholly-owned subsidiaries of NHS trusts in the 2016-17 financial year.

Stephen Barclay: Any staff who are compulsorily transferred under Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) from an National Health Service organisation to a subsidiary company retain their employment terms and conditions, and access to the NHS Pension Scheme, in accordance with HM Treasury’s New Fair Deal policy and TUPE legislation. The Department does not produce national level advice on the recruitment of new non-TUPE staff. It is up to individual trusts to set their own advice when employing staff. The Department does not hold data on the number of non-TUPE members of staff hired directly by wholly owned subsidiaries of NHS trusts in the last financial year.

NHS: Pensions

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the access to standard NHS pension arrangements that new non-TUPE staff were granted by wholly-owned subsidiaries of NHS trusts in the 2016-17 financial year.

Stephen Barclay: The Department does not hold information on the records of NHS Pension Scheme members. The NHS Business Service Authority administers the scheme on behalf of the Secretary of State.

Mental Illness: Debts

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 1 March 2018 to Question 130615, when the review of the effect of debt and financial difficulties on people with mental health problems will be (a) completed and (b) published.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department continues to work with the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute and a range of stakeholders from the financial and debt advice sectors and the British Medical Association to undertake the review, which we will publish in due course.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2018 to Question 129636 when the National Service Review of all Children and Young People’s Mental Health Tier 4 services will be (a) completed and (b) published.

Jackie Doyle-Price: NHS England is finalising its Children and Young People’s Mental Health Tier 4 Service Review. There are currently no plans to publish a report.

Mental Health Services: North East

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the net change in in-patient mental health beds has been in (a) Newcastle and (b) the North East of England since 2010.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information is not available in the format requested.

Endometriosis

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress is being made on reducing the diagnosis times and improving the eventual treatment for endometriosis.

Jackie Doyle-Price: To support women with endometriosis, all obstetricians and gynaecologists have been trained in the diagnosis, investigation and management of the condition, which is specifically listed as topic in the core curriculum for obstetrics and gynaecology. The European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology has published clinical guidelines on the management of women with endometriosis to assist clinicians. Through its mandate to NHS England, the Government has set out ambitions to improve the care and support of people with long-term conditions in order to help them to live healthily and independently, with much better control over the care they receive. NHS England has developed a service specification for severe endometriosis under the specialised commissioning area of complex gynaecology. NHS England expects all units providing a service to women with severe endometriosis to provide care which meets the standards they have provided.

NHS Property Services

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has issued guidance to NHS Property Services on charging clinical commissioning groups for void space in NHS Property Services' properties; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Barclay: Policy on charging National Health Service tenants of NHS Property Services and associated charging arrangements with NHS commissioners (clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and NHS England) from financial year 2017/18, which includes the treatment of void/vacant space, was agreed jointly by NHS Property Services, NHS England and the Department. The policy on charging is publicly available on NHS Property Services website at: https://www.property.nhs.uk/charging-policy-2017-18/ There is also a dedicated web page on vacant space at: https://www.property.nhs.uk/vacantspace/

NHS Property Services: West Sussex

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress NHS Property Services is making on improvements to the NHS Estate in Crawley, Horsham and Mid Sussex constituency; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Barclay: NHS Property Services report on the progress on the delivery of major projects in Crawley, Horsham and Mid Sussex constituency as follows:Crawley Hospital - The £3.97 million Piper (Sub-acute) ward refurbishment at Crawley commenced in August 2016 and was completed in December 2016; - The £4.53 million Urgent Care Centre refurbishment at Crawley commenced in early 2016 and, following some customer-requested design revisions and phasing changes, was completed in June 2017; - Phase One of a £6 million Infrastructure project at Crawley, including fire protection enhancements, generator and chilled water upgrades, began in January 2016 and ended in March 2017. Phase Two of this project is currently in the early stages of design and is programmed to commence in Q2 2018; and - A feasibility study and outline design for the relocation of the Child Development Centre was completed at the end of 2017. Our capital budget plans for financial year 2018/19 include £3.1 million allocation for this project. Over the past 24 months over £12 million has been invested into Crawley by NHS Property Services, with a further investment of £6 million planned over the next 18 months. Horsham Hospital- The Musculoskeletal project, including works to the hydrotherapy and gym, completed in December 2016; and - A £1.2 million, two-phase programme of works to roofs, heating and windows was completed in late 2017. A further package of external fabric and infrastructure works, expected to cost circa £800,000, is expected to commence in 2018. Sidney West Primary Care Centre, Burgess Hill An £800,000 programme of fitout works, including diagnostics, x-ray and consulting rooms, has been agreed in principle with the clinical commissioning group and prospective service provider. NHS Property Services has been negotiating with the landlords around consent for the scheme and hardstanding for an external (portable) MRI scanner for the past year. Negotiations are ongoing, and NHS Property Services have recently developed an alternative option for the scanner location. Assuming lease negotiations can be concluded in the next couple of months, we anticipate that works could start on-site in the summer of 2018. Crawley Down Medical Centre NHS Property Services is not the landlord for this Centre, but leases part of the overall building, and a general practitioner practice leases the remainder of the building direct from the landlord. NHS Property Services has led on discussions with the landlord’s managing agent, Workman & Partners, to ensure that the landlord is complying with their obligations for management and repair. Newtons Practice, Haywards Heath Health Centre NHS Property Services have made good progress with the development of a proposal to accommodate the Lloyds pharmacy in Haywards Heath – their current lease is ending in August 2018. NHS Property Services have agreed to extend the building to provide sufficient space for the Pharmacy to operate.

Department for International Development

Department for International Development: Non-governmental Organisations

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department plans to change its approach to due diligence when partnering with non-governmental organisations in developing countries as a result of the allegations of sexual misconduct by members of those organisations.

Penny Mordaunt: At the Safeguarding Summit on 5 March, I announced that DFID will put in place new, enhanced and specific safeguarding standards within our due diligence process for all non-governmental organisations. This will include an assessment of codes of conduct, how organisations identify and respond to incidents, and how risk management places safeguarding and beneficiaries at its core. New funds to organisations will not be approved unless they pass the new standards.

Pakistan: Religious Freedom

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether officials in her Department have held discussions with the Pakistan Government on the inclusion of religious tolerance in textbooks as part of the Punjab Education Support Programme.

Alistair Burt: Working in partnership with the Government of Punjab DFID has supported the Punjab Curriculum and Text Book Board to redesign specific textbooks for children in grades one to five. DFID Pakistan officials hold regular meetings with the Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board on progress to redesign textbooks to improve their quality and make them more inclusive. It remains the responsibility of the Punjab Textbook Board to approve the redesigned books and to fund their printing and distribution.

Pakistan: Religious Freedom

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what progress her Department has made on assisting the Federal Government of Pakistan with drafting a new educational curriculum to ensure the removal of biased content and derogatory language toward religious minorities.

Alistair Burt: Under Article Eighteen of the Constitution of Pakistan responsibility for curriculum has been devolved to provincial governments. DFID Pakistan’s education programmes are at the provincial level in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. These two programmes are working in partnership with these provincial governments to redesign curricula to improve quality, relevance and inclusion. It is the responsibility of the provincial government curriculum boards to approve curricula.

Department for Education

Sanitary Protection: VAT

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister for Women of 22 February 2018, Official Report, column 328, when he plans to publish his assessment of the effect of period poverty on school absence rates; and if he will make a statement.

Nadhim Zahawi: We have produced additional analysis of our absence data to look for evidence of period poverty by reviewing variations in absence rates by age, gender and free school meal status. We plan to publish our findings shortly. Information on the department’s pre-announced ad hoc statistics publications can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education/about/statistics#contents.

Architecture: Education

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students taking architecture subjects at degree-level were from (a) the UK, (b) non-UK EU countries and (c) non-EU countries in each year since 2010.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes statistics on students studying at UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), including information on subject of study and country of domicile prior to study. The latest statistics refer to the academic year 2016/17 and can be found at the following link: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/news/11-01-2018/sfr247-higher-education-student-statistics. The table below shows the numbers of full-person-equivalent entrants to first degrees in architecture subjects by domicile by academic year. 2010/112011/122012/132013/142014/152015/162016/17UK3,8503,9703,4553,5253,6853,6603,915EU730705595580515510535Non-EU6807058559309951,1151,000Source: HESA Student RecordNotes:1) Counts are on the basis of full-person-equivalents. Where a student is studying more than one subject, they are apportioned between the subjects that make up their course.2) Architecture is defined as principal Joint Academic Coding System (JACS) code K1. More information on JACS codes can be found on the HESA website here: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/support/documentation/jacs.3) All figures are rounded to the nearest 5.

Free School Meals: North East

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has made an assessment on the effect of the changes to the eligibility of free school meals under universal credit and on child poverty in the North East of England.

Nadhim Zahawi: Our new criteria for free school meals eligibility will increase the number of children eligible for this vital benefit. We have not made specific regional assessments of the effect of these changes. Due to the generous protections we will provide, all children receiving free school meals at the point the threshold is introduced, and all those who gain eligibility as Universal Credit (UC) rolls out, will continue to receive free school meals until the end of UC rollout. After this point, those children who were protected – if they are still in school – will continue to be protected until the end of their phase of education. While we estimate around 50,000 children more will benefit from our proposals once UC rollout is complete, many more children again will benefit as a result of our transitional arrangements.

Children: Day Care

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2018 to Question 128522, how many childcare providers in (a) the North East and (b) England (i) are and (ii) are not offering 30 hours free childcare without extra cost to parents that are eligible for that scheme.

Nadhim Zahawi: We do not hold this information. Our statutory guidance is clear that government funding is intended to deliver 15 or 30 hours a week of free, high quality, flexible childcare. It is not intended to cover the costs of meals, other consumables, additional hours or additional services. Our statutory guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-education-and-childcare--2.We have restated our position on additional charges in the operational guidance for local authorities and providers. In this we are clear that providers should publish a statement of how they deliver the free entitlement and any additional charges for optional activities outside of the entitlement. This is to ensure that parents can make informed decisions on their choice of childcare. Our operational guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/30-hours-free-childcare-la-and-early-years-provider-guide.

Mature Students

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the number of mature students studying in higher education institutions; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Higher Education Statistics Agency collects and publishes statistics on students studying at UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The latest statistics refer to the academic year 2016/17 and can be found at the following link: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/news/11-01-2018/sfr247-higher-education-student-statistics. Studying later in life can bring enormous benefits for individuals, the economy and employers. While people most commonly enter higher education before the age of 21, a fifth of those studying in HEIs in England are aged over 30, showing that many people are able to use higher education to retrain or improve their skills later on in their careers.

Mature Students

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that people aged over 21 are (a) encouraged and (b) supported to access higher education in the UK.

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that people aged over 21 are encouraged and supported to access higher education.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Studying later in life can bring enormous benefits for individuals, the economy and employers.Many mature students choose to study part-time. The government introduced up-front fee loans for eligible part-time students in 2012/13 to meet the full costs of their tuition. We are further enhancing the student finance package for part-time students by introducing maintenance loans, equivalent to full-time, in 2018/19. We also intend to extend the part-time maintenance loan to eligible students studying distance learning courses in 2019/20, subject to the development of a robust control regime to manage the particular risks and challenges associated with this mode of study.Evidence shows that accelerated courses appeal particularly to mature students who want to retrain and enter the workplace more quickly than a traditional course would permit. We legislated in the Higher Education and Research Act 2017 to allow a specific fee cap to be set for accelerated degrees, removing a key barrier to their wider availability. We recently completed a public consultation about the provision of accelerated degree courses, and will respond later this year.In our first guidance to the Office for Students (OfS), which sets out our priorities for access and participation plans for 2019/20, we asked the OfS to encourage higher education providers to consider the recruitment and support of mature learners.

Pupil Exclusions: Haringey

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupil exclusions have been recorded for the London Borough of Haringey in each of the last five years.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the pupil exclusion rate is for (a) Haringey (b) London and (c) England.

Nick Gibb: The National Statistics release ‘Permanent and fixed-period exclusions in England 2015 to 2016’ includes numbers and rates of exclusions. The full release is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/permanent-and-fixed-period-exclusions-in-england-2015-to-2016.The local authority tables include exclusion information for Haringey, London and England and the underlying data files include exclusion information at national, regional and local authority level for the 2006/07 academic year and onwards.

Free School Meals: Warrington

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils at (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in Warrington have recieved free school meals in each year since 2010.

Nadhim Zahawi: The proportion of pupils eligible for and claiming free school meals is published at the annual ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’ statistical release’, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2017. Data is not summarised by parliamentary constituency, but data for each school is available in the Underlying data: SFR28/2017 of the annual ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’ statistical release, contained in file ‘SFR28_2017_Schools_Pupils_UD’. The figures can be filtered by school phase (column N), school type (column O), parliamentary constituency (column V), number of pupils taking a free school meal on census day (column EB) and Free School Meal eligibility (column ED). Information for earlier years (from 2010 onwards) can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-and-pupil-numbers.

Teachers: Training

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 12 March 2018 to Question 131577 on Teachers: Training , what the timetable is for the feasibility study to be completed.

Nadhim Zahawi: The department is exploring a range of approaches for supporting graduates in the early years workforce – including in disadvantaged areas. This work is still underway and further information will be made available in due course.

Children's Centres: Standards

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 02 February 2018 to Question 125731 on Children’s Centres: Standards, what criteria his Department plans to use to assess the quality of children’s centre provision.

Nadhim Zahawi: I refer the hon. Member for Batley and Spen to the answer I gave on 2 February 2018 to question 125731, local authorities who manage children’s centres are responsible for ensuring the services they provide through children’s centres meet appropriate quality standards.

Free School Meals: Warrington

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) primary and (b) secondary school pupils in Warrington who will be eligible for free school meals after the introduction of changes to the threshold for free school meals under universal credit.

Nadhim Zahawi: The department has not made local authority-level forecasts of the number of pupils that will be entitled to free school meals under the new criteria. At a national level, it is estimated that by 2022 around 50,000 more children will benefit from a free school meal compared to the previous benefits system.

Children: Day Care

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Written Statement of 4 December 2017 HCWS309 on Childcare update, what estimate he has made of the total number of two year olds that will be eligible for free childcare once (a) universal credit is fully rolled out and (b) the threshold proposed in that Written Statement is introduced.

Nadhim Zahawi: Under the new annual net earned income threshold of £15,400, it is estimated that by 2023 around 7,000 more children will benefit from the two-year-old entitlement compared to the previous benefits system.

Young People: Work Experience

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to expand work experience opportunities for secondary school students from deprived communities.

Anne Milton: Government published the ‘Careers Strategy: making the most of everyone’s skills and talents’ on 4 December 2017. The strategy sets out a long term plan to build a world class careers system that will help young people and adults choose the career that’s right for them. All secondary schools will be expected to provide pupils with at least one meaningful interaction with businesses every year. To help schools do this, The Careers & Enterprise Company will expand their network of Enterprise Advisers – senior volunteers from business – so that by 2020 all secondary schools and colleges have access to an Enterprise Adviser.To target more support on those who need it most, including those from deprived communities, The Careers & Enterprise Company will launch a new investment fund of £5 million. This will help disadvantaged pupils to get the additional support they need to prepare for work, including opportunities for mentoring and guidance. The Careers & Enterprise Company will also triple the number of cornerstone employers to over 150 in the next two years. These cornerstone employers have made clear commitments to working with schools and colleges, including in Opportunity Areas. Through their business networks and supply chains, they are encouraging more businesses to get involved by becoming Enterprise Advisers or offering employer encounters.

Adult Education: Finance

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that devolution of the Adult Education Budget does not have a deleterious effect on adult education provision (a) generally and (b) with regard to the role of national providers.

Anne Milton: The Adult Education Budget (AEB) will be devolved to the Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs) in 2019/20 subject to certain conditions. In meeting these conditions, we will have assurance that the MCAs possess the necessary capability to not only deliver and administer the devolved AEB to learners and providers, but also improve on its current functions.

Adult Education: Finance

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether any adult education providers will retain national contracts with the Education and Skills Funding once the Adult Education Budget is devolved.

Anne Milton: Providers which meet the following criteria will be funded nationally by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) for a period of two years (academic years 2019/20 and 2020/21) following devolution of the Adult Eudcation Budget (AEB): Qualify for a residential uplift for their learning provision, andReceive more than two thirds of their income from the AEB, andPredominantly target their provision at the most disadvantaged in society. Following devolution in 2019/20 providers who currently deliver AEB provision nationally who fall outside of the above criteria for national funding will continue to receive funding for the learners residing in non devolved areas from the ESFA. It will be for the Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority to decide which providers they award funding to in their respective areas.

Adult Education: Finance

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department plans to put in place support to providers who currently have national contracts with the Education and Skills Funding Agency during the transition period of the devolution of the Adult Education Budget; and whether his Department will make funding available for adult education providers during the transition period of the devolution of the Adult Education Budget in (a) 2018-19 and (b) 2019-20.

Anne Milton: The total Adult Education Budget (AEB) for the 2018/19 academic year will continue to be managed and administered by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). From 2019/20, Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority will be responsible for commissioning and funding AEB provision for learners resident in their areas. The ESFA will remain accountable for the proportion of the AEB that is not devolved; the ESFA will allocate the non-devolved portion of the AEB to providers to fund learners resident in non-devolved areas.

Adult Education: Finance

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what arrangements he plans to put in place to support community-based education provision in areas which are outside mayoral combined authorities where the Adult Education Budget is to be devolved.

Anne Milton: Outside of mayoral combined authorities, support for the community based education provision will continue to come via the Education and Skills Funding Agency.

Adult Education: Finance

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what representations his Department received from providers who have national contracts with the Education and Skills Funding Agency and who will be affected by the devolution of the Adult Education Budget.

Anne Milton: We have held constructive discussions with providers and sector bodies who are the voice of providers, regarding the devolution of the Adult Education Budget. We will continue to engage with them as we move closer to devolution.

Ministry of Justice

Legal Aid Scheme: Prisoners

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment the Government has made of the implications for the public purse of the judgment in the case of R (Howard League for Penal Reform and the Prisoners’ Advice Service) v the Lord Chancellor.

Lucy Frazer: Holding answer received on 14 March 2018



In response to the Court of Appeal judgment, the Government decided to reinstate criminal legal aid funding to three discrete areas of prison law, namely: pre-tariff reviews where the Secretary of State seeks the advice of the Parole Board on whether life and Imprisoned for Public Protection prisoners may be transferred to open conditions; Category A Reviews; and referrals to close supervision centres. At the same time, the Government also decided to bring referrals to separation centres within scope of criminal legal aid. The regulations giving effect to these changes came into force on 21 February 2018. The impact assessment published alongside the regulations confirmed that this policy change would result in increased expenditure from the Criminal Legal Aid Fund estimated to be in the region of £1.1 million per year (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2017/1319/impacts).

Rape: Trials

Gloria De Piero: What steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of prosecutions of rape which collapse due to a failure to disclose evidence; and what support his Department provides to the alleged victims in such cases.

Lucy Frazer: Holding answer received on 14 March 2018



This is an issue that the Government takes extremely seriously. The Attorney General is leading a wide-ranging review of disclosure procedures that aims to report in the summer. On 26 January the Crown Prosecution Service and National Police Chiefs’ Council published their joint National Disclosure Improvement Plan. The police and Crown Prosecution Service have reviewed all live rape and serious sexual offence cases, to provide assurance that disclosure is being handled appropriately. My Department is providing £12.5m in funding for services for victims and survivors of sexual violence. This includes £7.2m of funding for rape support services. Where proceedings are discontinued or no evidence offered, the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime requires the CPS to explain to complainants why this has happened. The CPS must also inform complainants of how they can seek a review under the Victims’ Right to Review Scheme.

Paul Song

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he has had discussions with the governor of HMP Brixton on the removal of Pastor Paul Song from his chaplaincy post at that prison; and if he will take steps to press for that pastor's reinstatement.

Rory Stewart: The decision regarding access to prisons for volunteers is a matter for HM Prison and Probation Service. The decision of the Deputy Governor was re-examined by the Prison Group Director for London & Thames Valley when Pastor Song exercised his right to appeal against that decision. The decision was upheld.

Prisoners: Wales

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) male and (b) female people ordinarily resident in Wales served custodial sentences in England in each of the last 10 years.

Rory Stewart: The table below sets out the number of sentenced prisoners held in English prisons with an origin address in Wales since 2009. No data is available for 2008. QuarterSentenced prisoners in English prisons with origin addresses in WalesMale sentenced prisoners in Welsh prisons with origin addresses outside WalesTotal PopulationFemale% of Total PopulationMale% of Total PopulationTotal% of Total PopulationTotal% of Total Population20091730.21%1,5681.89%1,7412.10%3600.43%82,77220101910.22%1,7222.03%1,9132.25%3850.45%85,00920111930.23%1,5091.77%1,7022.00%4530.53%85,13720122090.24%1,5971.84%1,8062.08%4280.49%86,98020132000.24%1,7692.11%1,9692.35%3960.48%83,84220142010.24%1,7092.00%1,9102.23%4120.48%85,50920152150.25%1,6601.93%1,8752.18%4820.56%86,19320162200.26%1,6101.89%1,8302.15%4750.56%85,13420172210.26%1,5671.83%1,7882.08%8661.01%85,863  The data are based on snapshots and do not provide an indication of all prisoners with origin addresses in Wales who have served/are serving custodial sentences between 2009 and 2017. Furthermore, the data should not be taken to be representative of prisoners who identify as Welsh/English. When allocating prisoners to suitable establishments closeness to home is one of a number of factors considered. We also consider other factors such as length of sentence, security category and offending behaviour requirements. On occasion the offence itself may dictate location, with (for example) sex offenders mainly being held in prisons where they can receive specialist treatment. All data shown are based on the prison population at either May or June of each representative year. This tool has been designed for high level analytical purposes only. The detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system. While the figures shown have been checked as far as practicable, they should be regarded as approximate and not necessarily accurate to the last whole number shown in the tables. They are fit to be used for comparing the relative magnitude of components. Around 97% of prisoners have origin locations. Those with no origin are typically foreign nationals or recently received into custody and have been excluded from this table.

Prisons: Telephones and Computers

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which prisons were involved in the pilot scheme on placing telephones and basic computers into prison cells.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for each prison involved in the pilot scheme on placing telephones and basic computers into cells, (a) when those items were first put in place, (b) how long that scheme was scheduled to last and (c) when that scheme ended.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data was collected to monitor performance during the pilot scheme on placing telephones and basic computers into prison cells.

Rory Stewart: Under the pilot, telephones and basic computers were introduced into prison cells in two prisons: HMP Wayland and HMP Berwyn. HMP Berwyn already featured both capabilities when it opened on 27th February 2017. Telephones were introduced into HMP Wayland in December 2016 and computers in January 2017.The purpose is for prisoners to manage some of their own day-to-day tasks that would normally be managed by officers on paper, freeing up officers to focus their time on the important task of reforming offenders. Ministers will need to see evidence that new technologies have tangible benefits, in terms of improving rehabilitation, cutting crime and protecting the public before making any further decisions.The pilot is still running in both prisons. We are monitoring and evaluating the benefits to assess the impact on prisoner safety and rehabilitation, and on officers’ ability to do their jobs more effectively.As part of our evaluation of the pilot we are collecting data on rates of self-harm, assaults and adjudications. We are also collecting qualitative feedback on the pilot from users of the technology.

Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission

Local Government: Elections

Cat Smith: To ask the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, in respect of the areas where Voter ID pilots are being carried out this spring, and where the Commission plans to evaluate those pilots, what studies of the marked registers from the 2018 local elections will be carried out to understand the effect of such trials on levels of turnout.

Bridget Phillipson: The Commission will examine levels of turnout in the pilot areas at the 2018 elections as part of its statutory evaluation of the Voter ID pilots. This will not include an analysis of the marked registers but will involve the collection of detailed turnout data for 2018 and for previous years with comparable polls, noting that levels of turnout do vary across different years and so it will not necessarily be possible to attribute any changes in turnout to the pilot alone.

Local Government: Elections

Cat Smith: To ask the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, in respect of the areas where Voter ID pilots are being carried out this spring, and where the Commission plans to evaluate those pilots, what studies of the marked registers from the 2018 local elections will be carried out to understand the differential effect of such trials on levels of turnout between different ethnic groups.

Bridget Phillipson: As part of its statutory evaluation of the Voter ID pilots, the Commission will be carrying out public opinion research which should provide some insight into the impact on different demographic groups. Data will also be collected directly from polling stations on the numbers of electors unable to vote owing to the ID requirements.The Commission does not plan to examine the marked registers as part of its evaluation. The electoral registers do not hold demographic information on electors and the Commission would not be able to evaluate reliably any differential demographic impacts by this route.

Elections: Proof of Identity

Cat Smith: To ask the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, in respect of the areas where Voter ID pilots are being carried out this spring, and where the Commission plans to evaluate those pilots, what steps the Commission is taking to ensure that interviews are carried out not only with electoral registration officers and returning officers but also with people who work for the day as presiding officers in respect of individual polling stations and have personal face-to-face experience of difficulties that electors encounter in those pilot areas.

Bridget Phillipson: The Commission’s statutory evaluation of the Voter ID pilots will include a survey of all polling station staff in each pilot area, in order to gather information on their experiences of practically administering the ID requirement on the day. The Commission will also interview the Returning Officers and electoral administrators in each pilot area.

Elections: Proof of Identity

Cat Smith: To ask the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, in respect of the areas where Voter ID pilots are being carried out this spring, and where the Commission plans to evaluate those pilots, what steps the Commission is taking to ensure that a representative group of those people who work for the day as presiding officers in respect of individual polling stations who are representative not only the demography of the area but also the particular challenges which have been identified by civil society groups are interviewed.

Bridget Phillipson: The Commission’s statutory evaluation of the Voter ID pilots will include a survey of all polling station staff in each pilot area, in order to gather information on their experiences of practically administering the ID requirement on the day. All of the polling station staff will be encouraged to respond to the survey.The Commission will also seek feedback from a wide range of interested groups as part of its evaluation. This will include civil society organisations able to offer insights into how different elements of the pilots could have presented challenges, and delivered benefits, to specific groups of people.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether Euroclass B-F materials passed fire safety tests conducted for the Government in 2017; and whether the results of those tests have formed the basis of his Department's guidance to landlords.

Dominic Raab: Details of all tests commissioned by the Department as part of the Building Safety Programme are available at: www.gov.uk/guidance/building-safety-programmeTest 4 and Test 5 included materials in the cladding system which were not materials of limited combustibility and which therefore would have been classified under the European classification system under Classes B-F. In both tests, the cladding systems met the necessary performance criteria.However, Tests 1, 2, 3 and 7 also included materials which were not materials of limited combustibility. In these tests the necessary performance criteria were not met.The results of those tests informed advice to building owners from the Independent Expert Panel, which is available at: www.gov.uk/guidance/building-safety-programme

High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Government has decided to retain the BS 8414 large-scale test for the use of combustible materials on the facades of high-rise buildings.

Dominic Raab: The BS 8414 test was incorporated into building regulations guidance in 2006, following a comprehensive review of that part of the regulations and a publicconsultation. The Independent Expert Panel considers that the test is appropriate for assessing the potential for a cladding system to provide a medium for fire spread.The Government has commissioned Dame Judith Hackitt to take forward an independent review of building and fire safety regulations and their effectiveness.Any change to building regulations would be subject to full public consultation.

High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Government plans to ban the use of combustible materials on the facades of high-rise buildings.

Dominic Raab: Approved Document B and the guidance published by the Independent Expert Panel provide clear advice about the use of materials on the facades of high-rise buildings. Any future change to building regulations would be subject to a public consultation.The Government has commissioned Dame Judith Hackitt to take forward an independent review of building and fire safety regulations and their effectiveness.Any future change to building regulations would be subject to a public consultation.

Gypsies and Travellers: Equality

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the report of the Ministerial working group on tackling inequalities experienced by Gypsies and Travellers, published in April 2012, what recent steps his Department has taken to support Gypsy and Traveller representative groups showcase small private sites that are well presented and maintained.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: On 11 November 2014 in response to a Question UIN HL2504 from Lord Avebury, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon provided a summary of progress on the 28 commitments made by the Ministerial Working Group on tackling inequalities experienced by Gypsies and Travellers.The Government is concerned about the inequalities experienced by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities and maintains close contact with representative groups. Ministers in the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, the Department for Education and the Department of Health and Social Care are committed to working together to tackle the poor life chances of these groups, and will be running a series of projects to improve outcomes for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities in the areas of educational attainment, health and social integration through a fund which will concentrate on localised approaches that have been proved to deliver positive results. We intend to announce successful projects before April.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2018 to Question 123535, on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Procurement, what the contracts are that his Department holds with those suppliers.

Jake Berry: Holding answer received on 15 March 2018



According to our records, the contracts held with Strategic Suppliers cover the following areas:Network services and network service charges;server maintenance;hardware support renewal;support services;software licenses support;technical support services;central IT systems and services;contingent labour and specialist contractors;technical support to Holocaust Memorial;audit of energy performance of buildings.Further information on government strategic suppliers can be seen in the Crown Representatives and Strategic Suppliers List, as shown belowhttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/strategic-suppliers

Private Rented Housing: Students

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to help students afford the cost of renting properties.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Government is committed to rebalancing the relationship between landlords and tenants to deliver a fairer, higher quality and more affordable private rented sector for all tenants. We will ban unfair letting fees and cap tenancy deposits to ensure that renters have more money in their pockets.The single most important thing we can do to tackle affordability is to increase supply. That is why we have delivered over 346,000 new affordable homes since 2010, including 248,000 affordable homes for rent. This will help all tenants, including students, to afford the cost of renting properties.

Refuges

Alex Norris: To ask the Minister for Housing and Homelessness, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2018 to Question 127168, on refuges, when her Department plans to announce the allocation of the £1.1million top-up funding.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: I am pleased to confirm that 77 projects have taken up our offer of a share of the £1.1 million top up funding and will receive their funding allocations on 22 March 2018. We will publish a full list of the recipients on gov.uk on 22 March 2018.

Ministry of Defence

USA: Joint Exercises

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2018 to Question 123796, which joint exercises with the US he plans the UK to participate in over the next two years.

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2018 to Question 123796, how many personnel from the (a) Army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) Royal Air Force are planned to participate in joint exercises with the US over the next two years.

Mark Lancaster: Holding answer received on 05 March 2018



There are currently 82 exercises planned to have UK and US participation (and in some cases, other coalition countries) between March 2018 and March 2020. These are laid out in the attached table. We are unable to provide specific figures for numbers of personnel participating as those details are not finalised until closer to the date of the exercise. 



EX Planning Name (EPN)
(Word Document, 21.83 KB)

Army: Recruitment

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2018 to Question 127842 on Army: Recruitment, if he will publish (a) the most recent Cabinet Office Government Whitelist of the approved websites for advertising and (b) a list of the websites which featured Army recruitment advertisements in each of the last three years.

Mark Lancaster: The latest Cabinet Office Government Whitelist of approved websites for advertising, dated 21 September 2017, is attached.For information on Army recruitment advertisements I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 February 2018 to Question 127842.



Cabinet Office Government Whitelist
(Excel SpreadSheet, 43.37 KB)

Navy: Deployment

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish all current standing Royal Navy deployments.

Mark Lancaster: The Royal Navy continues to meet all their standing commitments including: Continuous at Sea Deterrent; Fleet Ready Escort; Towed Array Patrol Ship; marine enforcement; mine countermeasures support; Atlantic Patrol Tasking North and South; Gibraltar Squadron; operations East of Suez; contributing to the Joint Expeditionary Force (Maritime) and Standing NATO Naval Forces; supporting EU and NATO counter-migration operations in the Mediterranean. In addition to these, HMS SUTHERLAND is currently conducting operations and exercises in Australia and HMS ARGYLL will deploy to Asia Pacific later this year.

Defence Nuclear Biological and Chemical Centre

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many personnel have passed each available CBRN course at the Defence Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear Centre in each of the last five years.

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) Army, (b) Royal Air Force and (c) Royal Navy personnel have passed a Defence Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear Centre CBRN course; and which courses those personnel have passed.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Defence Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear Centre (DCBRNC) provides a range of specialist training courses for personnel across all three Services. I am withholding the information requested as it’s disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

Chemical and Biological Warfare: Army

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the process of transferring CBRN responsibilities from the RAF Regiment to the British Army is planned to be completed.

Mark Lancaster: Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear capabilities are being reviewed as part of the Modernising Defence Programme.

Chemical and Biological Warfare: Military Exercises

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many personnel from each service have taken part in Exercise Toxic Dagger in each of the last five years.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Over the past five years over 700 Armed Forces personnel have taken part in Exercise TOXIC DAGGER.

Ministry of Defence: Catering

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which companies have had catering contracts with his Department and its agencies from 2010 to date.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Department for Work and Pensions

Poverty: Children

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment her Department has made of the level of child poverty in Wolverhampton North East constituency using the four measures of poverty under the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016.

Kit Malthouse: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 05 February 2018.The correct answer should have been:

This Government is committed to action that improves long-term outcomes for children and families by focusing on tackling the root causes of poverty and disadvantage. The four ‘Life Chances’ measures introduced through the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016, which replaced the income based targets set out in the Child Poverty Act 2010, are designed to drive action and measure progress in the areas that we know can make the biggest difference - parental worklessness and children’s educational achievement.The measures are based on official statistics produced by the Office for National Statistics on the proportion of children in workless households and the proportion of children in long-term workless households; and on Department for Education statistics on the educational attainment at Key Stage 4 of all pupils, and of disadvantaged pupils.Although these statistics do not all provide data for individual constituencies, local authority-level data is available for the measure of all children in workless households and for both the educational attainment measures.In 2016, 21.4 per cent of children were in workless households in Wolverhampton local authority. This compares to 27.2 per cent in 2010.Source:https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peoplenotinwork/unemployment/bulletins/worklesshouseholdsforregionsacrosstheuk/2016In 2017, pupils sat reformed GCSEs in English language, English literature and maths for the first time, graded on a 9 to 1 scale. 35.6 per cent of all pupils and 22.8 per cent of disadvantaged pupils in the Wolverhampton local authority area achieved 9-5 in English and maths.GCSE outcomes by constituency are available for all pupils but not broken down by disadvantaged pupils. In 2017, 28.3 per cent of all pupils in the Wolverhampton North East constituency achieved 9-5 in English and maths.Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/revised-gcse-and-equivalent-results-in-england-2016-to-2017

Kit Malthouse: This Government is committed to action that improves long-term outcomes for children and families by focusing on tackling the root causes of poverty and disadvantage. The four ‘Life Chances’ measures introduced through the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016, which replaced the income based targets set out in the Child Poverty Act 2010, are designed to drive action and measure progress in the areas that we know can make the biggest difference - parental worklessness and children’s educational achievement.The measures are based on official statistics produced by the Office for National Statistics on the proportion of children in workless households and the proportion of children in long-term workless households; and on Department for Education statistics on the educational attainment at Key Stage 4 of all pupils, and of disadvantaged pupils.Although these statistics do not all provide data for individual constituencies, local authority-level data is available for the measure of all children in workless households and for both the educational attainment measures.In 2016, 21.4 per cent of children were in workless households in Wolverhampton local authority. This compares to 27.2 per cent in 2010.Source:https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peoplenotinwork/unemployment/bulletins/worklesshouseholdsforregionsacrosstheuk/2016In 2017, pupils sat reformed GCSEs in English language, English literature and maths for the first time, graded on a 9 to 1 scale. 35.6 per cent of all pupils and 22.8 per cent of disadvantaged pupils in the Wolverhampton local authority area achieved 9-5 in English and maths.GCSE outcomes by constituency are available for all pupils but not broken down by disadvantaged pupils. In 2017, 28.3 per cent of all pupils in the Wolverhampton North East constituency achieved 9-5 in English and maths.Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/revised-gcse-and-equivalent-results-in-england-2016-to-2017

Department for Work and Pensions: Telephone Services

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to stop intermediaries using freephone numbers offered by her Department to generate income from claimants.

Kit Malthouse: The Department for Work and Pensions has engaged with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to agree how to maximise the powers that Ofcom and the Phone-paid Services Authority discharge in relation to regulating paid for telephony services.

Department for Work and Pensions: Recruitment

Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the recruitment targets set out in her Department's paper Improving Lives: The Future of Work, Health and Disability, what progress she has made on recruiting (a) Community Partners and (b) Disability Employment Advisers.

Alok Sharma: The Department is committed to recruiting around 200 Community Partners and is actively doing so. There are Community Partners in place in every Jobcentre Plus District. 116 Community Partners are currently in post and 38 others have accepted offers of employment. For all remaining posts recruitment is ongoing. Disability Employment Advisors have also been recruited across the Jobcentre Plus network. As at February 2018, there are 470 full time equivalent DEAs with an actual headcount above 500 when taking account of part time and dual role workers.

Personal Independence Payment

Emma Little Pengelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the transfer of people from disability living allowance to personal independence payment is made effectively; and what representations she has received on claimants whose payments have changed significantly despite there being no change in their circumstances.

Sarah Newton: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19 January 2018 to Question UIN 123045.

Personal Independence Payment: Liverpool Walton

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who previously qualified for disability living allowance have not been awarded personal independence payments in Liverpool Walton constituency after an assessment by the Independent Assessment Services.

Sarah Newton: The latest available data on the number of people who previously qualified for Disability Living Allowance (DLA) but have been disallowed on reassessment to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) after an assessment by Independent Assessment Services in Liverpool Walton constituency can be found in the statistical tables released in December 2017 here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-april-2013-to-october-2017 Table 8G (DLA to PIP Reassessment outcomes by Parliamentary Constituency) shows the PIP reassessment outcome of claimants who have been reassessed from DLA to PIP by parliamentary constituency. It shows the number of people who have had their awards increased, unchanged and decreased and also those that were disallowed pre and post referral to the assessment. The latest date for which published data is available is 31st October 2017. Comparisons of DLA reassessment to PIP awards are published annually.

Personal Independence Payment: Liverpool Walton

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people who have mental health conditions in Liverpool Walton constituency who are receiving personal independence payments.

Sarah Newton: The latest available data on PIP claims in payment, including by parliamentary constituency and main disabling condition are published on Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk.Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html. Data is based on primary disabling condition as recorded on the PIP computer system. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is based but only the primary condition is shown in these published statistics.

Personal Independence Payment: Liverpool Walton

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many former claimants of disability living allowance in Liverpool Walton constituency who have been unsuccessful in their claim for personal independence payments have been waiting over (a) six weeks, (b) three months and (c) six months for their appeal to be heard.

Sarah Newton: The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have been affected by the under-occupancy penalty in Liverpool Walton constituency.

Kit Malthouse: Figures on the number of households receiving Housing Benefit (HB) affected by the removal of the spare room subsidy (RSRS) by parliamentary constituency are publically available through the DWP Stat Xplore website:https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/jsf/login.xhtml Guidance for users is available at:https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html Figures on DWP Stat Xplore do not include claimants on Universal Credit (UC) with a removal of the spare room subsidy (RSRS) deduction, as this data is not currently available.

Children: Maintenance

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to review the requirements for (a) the carer parent and (b) the absent parent to inform the Child Maintenance Service of personal financial changes.

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information on changes in financial circumstances are required from each party within a Child Maintenance Support agreement.

Kit Malthouse: A Child Maintenance liability is calculated using the paying parent’s gross income obtained directly from HMRC. The receiving parent’s income is not considered. The paying parent is required to inform the Service of any changes in personal financial circumstances which would alter the maintenance liability. There are no plans to review this requirement.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Gavin Newlands: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time taken has been for the office of the Independent Case Examiner to respond to a complaint relating to the equalisation of the state pension age in the last 12 months.

Kit Malthouse: In the period March 2017 to February 2018 it took an average of 45 weeks for the Independent Case Examiner’s Office to conclude investigations into complaints about the equalisation of state pension age, from the point at which the complaint was accepted for examination.

Universal Credit

Margaret Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the number of people who are subject to in-work conditionality under universal credit.

Alok Sharma: The available information on the number of people on Universal Credit by conditionality regime is published and can be accessed at:https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/.Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html

Universal Credit

Margaret Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people who will be subject to in-work conditionality once the roll-out of universal credit is complete.

Alok Sharma: Work coaches engage at a personal and individual level with all of or our claimants and are committed to tailoring the support that we give, and any conditionality requirements to the specific circumstances of the individual.The Department’s internal analysis indicates that there will be around 1 million claimants in work on Universal Credit, receiving support when Universal Credit is fully rolled out. This internal analysis is derived from the Department’s INFORM and Policy Simulation models.

Mortgages: Debt Collection

Margaret Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which organisation will be responsible for debt recovery from mortgage interest loans and what guidance will be provided to that organisation on responding to elderly and vulnerable claimants.

Kit Malthouse: Claimants will not be required to make repayment of their SMI loan until their property is sold or transferred. We anticipate that, in the vast majority of cases, there will be a charge placed on the property. This means that the recovery process will usually be handled via a solicitor dealing with the sale or transfer rather than directly with the claimant. Where there is insufficient equity to repay in full, claimants will not be pursued for the balance. Recovery of mortgage interest loans will be the responsibility of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Debt Management who will be putting in place a new and bespoke Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) Loan Management unit. DWP currently deals with elderly and vulnerable customers every day, and there are no plans to deal with elderly or vulnerable SMI claimants any differently.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance her Department provides to claimants receiving job seekers allowance who volunteer for a Credit Union; and if she will make a statement.

Alok Sharma: DWP recognises the value of volunteering in developing skills which can be transferred into the world of paid work, as well as benefitting local communities and wider society. Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants are able to volunteer so long as they meet the conditions of their Claimant Commitment. There is no specific guidance provided regarding volunteering for a Credit Union.

Personal Independence Payment

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many former claimants of disability living allowance who have been unsuccessful in their claim for personal independence payments have been waiting over (a) six weeks, (b) three months and (c) six months for their appeal to be heard in Coventry South constituency.

Sarah Newton: The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Personal Independence Payment: Coventry South

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people who have mental health conditions who are receiving personal independence payments in Coventry South constituency.

Sarah Newton: The latest available data on PIP claims in payment, including by parliamentary constituency and main disabling condition, are published on Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk.Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html. Data is based on primary disabling condition as recorded on the PIP computer system. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is based but only the primary condition is shown in these published statistics.

Personal Independence Payment: Coventry South

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who previously qualified for disability living allowance have not been awarded personal independence payments after an assessment by the Independent Assessment Services in Coventry South constituency.

Sarah Newton: The Assessment Provider for Coventry South constituency is Capita, not Independent Assessment Services as mentioned in the request. The latest available data on the number of people who previously qualified for Disability Living Allowance (DLA) but have been disallowed on reassessment to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) after an assessment by Capita in Coventry South constituency can be found in the statistical tables released in December 2017 here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-april-2013-to-october-2017 Table 8G (DLA to PIP Reassessment outcomes by Parliamentary Constituency) shows the PIP reassessment outcome of claimants who have been reassessed from DLA to PIP by parliamentary constituency. It shows the number of people who have had their awards increased, unchanged and decreased and also those that were disallowed pre and post referral to the assessment. The latest date for which published data is available is 31st October 2017. Comparisons of DLA reassessment to PIP awards are published annually.

Personal Independence Payment: Visual Impairment

Sir Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of recent trends in the level of personal independence payment awards for (a) blind and (b) sight impaired applicants; and if he will make a statement.

Sarah Newton: Personal Independence Payment (PIP) ensures we target support on those with the greatest barriers to living an independent life. PIP is working better for those with a visual impairment compared to the previous benefit, Disability Living Allowance (DLA). Under DLA, 5% of all those with a visual impairment were receiving the top level of support1 [the footnote explains that this is May 2013], whereas 62% of PIP recipients receive the highest rates as at the end of October 2017.” Of those visually impaired DLA claimants who were aged 16 to 64 on 8 April 2013 and have been reassessed for PIP up to the end of October 2017, 66% are now getting a higher award than they received under DLA and the average weekly PIP award is £116.95 compared to £73.10 under DLA. Notes:DLA and PIP data taken from Stat-Xplore (https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk)

Social Security Benefits: Warrington North

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with a diagnosed mental illness have received benefit sanctions in Warrington North in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Alok Sharma: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. Statistics are available on the number of individuals in receipt of Employment and Support Allowance with a primary disabling condition, in the category Mental or Behavioural Disorder, who received an adverse sanction decision. This information is available by constituency and is published on Stat-Xplore at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/. Guidance on how to extract the relevant information can be found at:https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html We engage at a personal and individual level with all of our claimants and are committed to tailoring the support that we give, and any conditionality requirements to the specific circumstances of the individuals. We take a number of steps to make sure our decisions are fair. When considering whether a sanction is appropriate, a Decision Maker will take all the claimant’s individual circumstances, including any health conditions or disabilities and any evidence of good cause, into account before deciding whether a sanction is warranted. We have a well-established system of hardship payments, available as a safeguard if a claimant demonstrates that they cannot meet their immediate and most essential needs, including accommodation, heating, food and hygiene, as a result of their sanction.

Personal Independence Payment

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of staff carrying out assessments for personal independence payments have received training in the assessment of mental health conditions and the effect of such conditions on applicants.

Sarah Newton: Health Care Professionals (HCPs) undertaking PIP assessments must have at least 2 years post full registration experience (this refers to either UK registration or equivalent overseas registration for non-UK HCPs) or less than 2 years post full registration experience by individual, prior, written agreement with the Department. Requests by providers to employ Health Care Professionals with less than 2 years post full registration experience are rare and exceptional. All HCPs receive training on how to identify the impact of mental health conditions on claimants. This is followed by on-going professional training and support which continues for the duration of their employment in the role. In addition, Mental Health Champions support HCPs by providing additional expertise about mental health, cognitive, developmental and learning disabilities and can be referred to at any time during the assessment process. HCPs make every attempt to obtain the best evidence available to assist them in undertaking the assessment. This includes accessing evidence from Community Mental Health Teams, psychologists, psychiatrists and other medical professionals. Health Assessment Providers frequently engage with medical experts, charities and relevant stakeholders to strengthen, review and update training programmes for all their assessment staff.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

Mr Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of culled badgers are tested for bovine tuberculosis.

George Eustice: Badgers removed under licence between 2013 and 2015 were not routinely tested for TB. In 2013, four badgers removed were tested at the specific request of landowners. The tests were carried out privately by independent veterinary surgeons and one badger was confirmed to be infected with TB. This information is publicly available: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/323530/RFI_6489.pdf. In 2016 we initiated development of a badger TB surveillance programme in nine cull areas in the High Risk Area of England. A report on the results from tested badgers is publicly available: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bovine-tb-surveillance-in-wildlife-in-england-2016-to-2017. In 2017, 84 badger carcasses from one cull area were submitted for TB testing as part of a research project to develop and validate novel techniques for diagnosing TB in badgers. A further nine carcasses from a different cull area were also submitted for TB testing as part of a commercial collaboration. No results from these tests are yet available.

Plastics: Waste

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the producer responsibility regime in reducing the amount of plastic waste; and if he will take steps to increase the contribution producers make towards the cost of collecting and recycling plastic waste.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: We are exploring changes to the packaging producer responsibility scheme, including mechanisms to incentivise better design and encourage the use of recycled material, as well as the funding of collection within the system.

Packaging: Recycling

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much revenue to the public purse there has been associated with packaging recovery notes in each year since 2010; how much of that money has been invested into improving recycling facilities; and what control measures are in place to ensure that funds are spent appropriately.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Revenue from the sale of Packaging Waste Recovery Notes (PRNs) and Packaging Waste Export Recovery Notes (PERNs) does not go to the public purse. Reprocessors and exporters who are accredited to issue PRNs and PERNs are required to report the revenue received to the Environment Agency. The Environment Agency publishes this data on how this income has been spent for capacity building within the system against specific categories.

Palm Oil: Labelling

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make it his policy that all products containing palm oil should be labelled as such to enable consumers to decide whether they wish to buy products containing that ingredient.

George Eustice: Products containing palm oil must be labelled as such – the vegetable oil ingredient of food must now indicate the vegetable origin of the oil.See Annex VII part A 7-8 of the 1169/2011 Regulation on the provision of food information to consumers for more information:https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/ALL/?uri=CELEX%3A32011R1169

Palm Oil

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of palm oil production on wildlife and the environment in palm oil producing countries; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: In 2006, Defra published a study into the environmental impacts of a number of commodities, including palm oil. In 2012, Defra published the UK Statement on the Sustainable Production of Palm Oil which was signed by trade associations, NGOs and Government, and aimed to achieve 100% sourcing of credibly certified sustainable palm oil. The final report in February 2017 reported that by 2015 either 87% or 108% of UK palm oil imports were supported by Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification, depending on the trade data source used. Defra is committed to supporting implementation of deforestation free supply chains for key commodities, including palm oil. We are signatory to the Amsterdam Declarations, have endorsed the New York Declaration on Forests and are a member of the Tropical Forest Alliance 2020.

Air Pollution: Monitoring

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to his Answer to of 30 January 2018 to Question 12548, on monitoring of PM1, if he will ensure that more sites in the Particulate Numbers and Concentrations Network monitor PMs of less than 2.5.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Our air quality monitoring networks are kept under review to ensure they continue to deliver the UK’s requirements for reporting, evidence and supporting our policy needs. There are currently no plans to expand the particle numbers and concentrations network.

Food Supply

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what contingency plans his Department (a) has agreed on and (b) are working on to ensure that the UK's food supply is not affected when the UK exits the EU.

George Eustice: Food is one of the UK’s 13 critical infrastructure sectors and Defra produces an annual Sector Security and Resilience Plan working closely with industry sectors. The UK has a high degree of food security with access to a diverse range of sources of supply, including domestic production. This will continue to be the case after we leave the EU. Food supply is highly resilient with diversity and flexibility throughout the supply chain, and industry can respond quickly to ensure ongoing supply. Defra has been working closely with other Government departments, including the Border Planning Group (BPG), which provides oversight and assurance of departmental plans for managing the border-related impacts of leaving the EU both for Day 1 and beyond. Planning work aims to ensure three key objectives for the border are delivered for Day 1 and beyond: maintaining security; facilitating the flow of goods and people; revenue protection.

Agriculture: Wales

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of funding available to the Welsh agricultural sector came from (a) the UK Government (b) the European Union and (c) other sources in each of the last 10 years.

George Eustice: Defra does not hold information on funding made available to the Welsh agricultural sector as this is a devolved issue. This information is held by the Welsh Government.

Biodiversity

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the amount of funding that was available from the Heritage Lottery Fund for projects that promote biodiversity in 2015/16 and 2016/17.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) does not isolate funding specifically for biodiversity. In 2015/16 the HLF invested £88 million in projects supporting the UK’s land and nature. In 2016/17, HLF’s investment was £101.7 million.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Brexit

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funding has been allocated by his Department to prepare for the UK leaving the EU; and how much of that funding was approved after the issue of a Ministerial direction.

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding his Department allocated for preparation projects for the UK leaving the EU was approved in the Spring Supplementary Estimate; and how much of that funding was after the issuing of a Ministerial direction.

George Eustice: The amount allocated to the UK’s departure from the EU in the Spring Supplementary Estimate for 2017-18 was £67.4 million from the Reserve, with a further £20 million repurposed from Defra’s budget towards the UK’s departure from the EU. In the Chancellor’s Spring Statement, £310 million has been allocated to Defra for the UK’s departure from the EU in 2018-19, with a further £10 million being repurposed from Defra’s budget. The Ministerial Direction that was issued on 16 January 2018 was not connected to the allocation of funding. The Direction sought the necessary authority required under ‘Managing Public Money’ for six projects to proceed to their building phase before the EU (Withdrawal) Bill receives Royal Assent and provides the necessary legislative cover.

Home Office

Cannabis

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has plans to introduce the use of all forms of medicinal cannabis.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Government sympathises deeply with the situation faced by Alfie Dingley and his family. The Policing and Fire Minister met Alfie Dingley’s family on 26 February. Both the Home Secretary and Mr. Hurd want to explore every option within the current regulatory framework.

Cannabis

Sir Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she bring forward legislative proposals to enable medicines derived from cannabis to be available on prescription.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Government’s view is that products derived from cannabis should be subjected to the same regulatory framework that applies to all medicines in the UK. There is a clear regime in place to regulate medicines in the UK and this is administered by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The cannabis-based medicine ‘Sativex’ has been granted Marketing Authorisation in the UK by the MHRA for the treatment of spasticity due to multiple sclerosis. Sativex was tested for its safety, efficacy and quality before this authorisation was made.

Aerials: Ochil and South Perthshire

Luke Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many new mobile phone masts are intended to be built by (a) EE and (b) the Extended Area Services project in Ochil and South Perthshire constituency under the Emergency Services Network programme.

Mr Nick Hurd: I can confirm that EE are planning 5 new sites in the constituency of Ochil and South Perthshire that will provide the necessary coverage needed for the Emergency Services Network (ESN), subsequently there are no plans for any Extended Area Service (EAS) sites in the region.

Police: Armed Response Vehicles

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the announcement entitled Extra armed police to deal with terrorist threat, published by the National Police Chiefs' Council on 1 April 2016, how many additional armed response vehicles have been operationally deployed.

Mr Nick Hurd: We are providing £144 million over the spending review period to uplift our armed policing capability and capacity, in order to respond more quickly and effectively to a firearms attack. The first phase of the armed uplift is complete, providing an additional 41 Armed Response Vehicles and around 650 armed officers.

Wildlife: Smuggling

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the (a) budget for and (b) number of staff in the Border Force CITES team was in each of the last two years.

Caroline Nokes: Border Force’s indicative budget, for this and future years, is published as part of the Home Office’s publishing of the Annual Report and Accounts. This information can be found at gov.uk. (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-office-annual-report-and-accounts-2016-to-2017 )The ever-changing and complex challenges Border Force faces means its workforce is becoming increasingly multi-skilled, dynamic and flexible. Border Force has a workforce model clearly setting out roles and skills coupled with a strategic workforce planning process enabling effective identification of resourcing needs, training requirements and the effective deployment of staff. Staff can be deployed to areas of greatest need at short notice.Border Force uses an intelligence led approach to detecting illegal CITES trade. This is a proportionate and risk based approach taking account of all available intelligence to inform targeting activities and deployments at the frontier.

Offences against Children

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to allocate additional funding to police forces to tackle child grooming in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) the rest of the UK.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office does not provide funding for the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Policing is a devolved matter and it is for the Department of Justice (Northern Ireland) to determine the level of resources required by the Service.In England and Wales, £20m over three years has been awarded through the Police Transformation Fund to increase capability to target online grooming of children. The Home Office is also providing ongoing funding for several major child sexual abuse investigations through Police Special Grant.Ministers engaged with every police force in England and Wales about changing demand before making decisions on the 2018/19 funding settlement. The Government recognised changing demands, including the complex and resource intensive work involved in investigating child sexual exploitation, through an increase in total investment in the police system of around £450m in 2018/19.Increasing awareness of the risks posed to children by online offenders is vitally important to combat online grooming. The National Crime Agency’s Thinkuknow education programme provides educational resources for use with children and young people helping them to identify the risks they may face, particularly online. This programme has been used across the country, including in Northern Ireland, to help keep children and young people safe online.

Visas

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many visas have been refused under section 322 (5) of her Departments Immigration Rules for minor tax errors.

Caroline Nokes: The specific information that has been requested is not included in statistics published by the Home Office.Information on the number of applications and decisions (i.e. grants, refusals, withdrawn and lapsed cases) is published quarterly in the Home Office’s Immigration Statistics, Visas volume 1, table vi_01_q, latest edition at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-july-to-september-2017

Human Trafficking

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to update guidance on renewable residence permits for victims of trafficking whose residence is necessary for the UK to meet its objective under the Trafficking Convention to make clear that there is no additional requirement to show compelling circumstances.

Caroline Nokes: The Court of Appeal issued a judgment in the case of (PK(Ghana) v SSHD) on 13 February 2018. We are considering the implications of the judgment.Whilst we consider next steps interim guidance has been issued to caseworkers to put on hold any refusals of discretionary leave to remain decisions for confirmed victims of modern slavery. Grants of discretionary leave are continuing. This guidance is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/interim-operation-guidance-discretionary-leave-for-victims-of-modern-slaveryIn line with standard practice, support providers under the Victim Care Contract can seek an extension of support for confirmed victims who are awaiting a discretionary leave decision.

Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the oral contribution of the hon. Member for Tottenham on 6 March 2018, column 187, Yarl's Wood Detention Centre, for what reason the question on human rights obligations was not answered.

Caroline Nokes: We do not consider that the letter issued to individuals in immigration detention who have refused foods or fluids contravened human rights obligations.The approach taken in the letter accurately reflects the fact that, in the interests of health and safety, the most appropriate way in which to respond to some cases of refusal to take food or fluids is to prioritise the consideration of the individual’s case including, if appropriate, their removal from detention and the UK, whilst ensuring that the case is processed fairly.

Crimes of Violence: Liverpool Walton

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the effect of the reduction in neighbourhood policing on the police’s ability to counter violent crime in Liverpool, Walton constituency; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Nick Hurd: It is for operationally independent Chief Constables to decide how to best deploy officers in their force area to effectively counter violent crime. Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) are elected by the public to hold Chief Constables and the force to account; making the police answerable to the communities they serve.The PCC for Merseyside has chosen to use precept flexibility to increase the force’s direct funding by around £5.2m in 2018/19. She has set out her intention to use this funding to protect front line policing and enhance the force’s armed capability to help combat serious violence.

High Rise Flats: Fires

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of specialist firefighting equipment available to the fire services as a result of the Grenfell Tower fire.

Mr Nick Hurd: It is the responsibility of each fire and rescue authority to allocate their resources, including equipment, across prevention, protection and operational response to prevent and mitigate effectively the fire related risks facing their communities.Home Office also supports specialist National Resilience capabilities to respond to large scale incidents. These capabilities are discussed quarterly at the National Fire Chief Council’s National Resilience Board and the Home Office Strategic Resilience Board to ensure that the agreed capabilities are in place, well maintained and remain fit for purpose.

Knives: Liverpool Walton

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the trends in the level of knife crime in Liverpool, Walton constituency since 2010.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office collects data on the number of selected offences involving a knife or a sharp instrument recorded by the police in England and Wales at the police force area level.Data on knife offences at the police force area level can be found in the Home Office Knife Crime Open Data Tables, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tables

Firearms: Crime

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of changes in the level of crimes involving firearms in (a) England and (b) Liverpool Walton constituency in each year since 2010.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Office for National Statistics publishes offences recorded by the police involving firearms at the police force area level. Offences involving firearms includes any notifiable offence recorded by the police where a firearm has been fired, used as a blunt instrument or been used as a threat. Figures for England and Wales are in Table 12 of Offences involving the use of weapons: data tables, year ending March 2017 available here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/offencesinvolvingtheuseofweaponsdatatablesData are not available at a lower geographical level than police force area.

Visas: Israel

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether Israeli citizens, including those living in illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, have visa-free access to the UK for tourism and business purposes.

Caroline Nokes: Israeli citizens do not require a visa to visit the UK and are assessed for entry at the UK border.

Police: Reserves

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to ensure that Police and Crime Commissioners make effective use of financial reserves.

Mr Nick Hurd: In 2017, Police and Crime Commissioners held over £1.6bn in financial reserves. This is public money and the public are entitled to more information around police plans for reserves and how those plans will support more effective policing. That is why in January 2018, we published details of reserves levels held in all police force areas in England and Wales. Alongside this, we provided new guidance requiring PCCs to publish their reserves strategies in plain English, with a clear justification for each reserve held, including how it will be used to help deliver a good quality service to the public. You can find this information at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-financial-reserves

Psychiatry: Migrant Workers

Rosie Duffield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department,  what assessment she has made of the potential merits of adding child and adolescent psychiatrists to the Shortage Occupation List.

Caroline Nokes: The independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) advises the Government on changes to the Shortage Occupation List (SOL). The MAC has determined that a number of medical professionals, including all nurses, paramedics and various doctors, including posts in emergency medicine, clinical radiology and old age psychiatry, are in national shortage and they appear on the published SOL in Appendix K of the Immigration Rules.The SOL sits under Tier 2, our main immigration route for non-EEA workers. Applications for jobs on the SOL receive the highest priority – and the highest number of points – when allocating a Tier 2 (General) place.The SOL is kept under regular review, with the most recent changes made to it last April.

Psychiatry: Migrant Workers

Rosie Duffield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Tier 2 visa applications sponsored by the NHS for NHS child and adolescent psychiatrists were turned down in the most recent year for which data is available.

Caroline Nokes: The information you have requested is not included in statistics published by the Home Office.Information on the total number of Tier 2 refusals can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2017/list-of-tables#visas

Refugees: Children

Rosie Duffield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to extend to children recognised as refugees the same family reunion rights granted to adults.

Caroline Nokes: We already have a comprehensive framework for refugees and their families to be safely reunited in the UK. Our refugee family reunion policy allows immediate family members of those granted protection in the UK to reunite with them here. The family provisions in the immigration rules also provide for relatives with protection in the UK to sponsor children when there are serious and compelling circumstances.Our policy is also clear that where an application fails under the rules, we will consider whether there are exceptional reasons to grant leave outside the rules. In addition, refugees with family members in the UK may be eligible for resettlement under the Mandate and Gateway Schemes.This policy is designed to provide a safe and legal route for close, dependent family members to join their refugee family in the UK. However, we must not create incentives for families to send children on dangerous journeys, often in the hands of criminals, rather than seek protection in the first safe country they reach.

Refugees: Families

Rosie Duffield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of refugee families which are reunited in the UK.

Caroline Nokes: The UK immigration rules have a comprehensive framework for refugees and their families to be safely reunited in the UK. Our family reunion policy allows immediate family members of those granted protection here to reunite with them. The Immigration Rules also provide for relatives with protection in the UK to sponsor children in serious and compelling circumstances. The Mandate resettlement scheme also allows those recognised by the UNCHR as refugees to join close family members here in the UK.In addition, there is provision in the policy to grant visas outside the Rules in exceptional circumstances, which caters for extended family members who otherwise do not qualify under the Rules.Over the last five years there have been 24,700 family reunion visas issued – and this is in addition to the numbers granted asylum here or resettled here under our resettlement schemes.We issued revised policy guidance on considering family reunion applications in July 2016, and we need to ensure that this policy and our existing resettlement schemes are used to full effect to benefit family members living in regions of conflict and fleeing persecution.

Home Office: Staff

Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff are employed full time in the Modern Slavery Unit; and what estimate she has made of the annual cost to the public purse of those staff.

Victoria Atkins: Tackling modern slavery and human trafficking is a priority for this Government. The Home Office has ensured that sufficient resources are available within the Modern Slavery Unit to support the delivery of the Modern Slavery Strategy. The Modern Slavery Unit has a budget of £1.5 million for financial year 2017/18 which mainly relates to staff costs.

Visas: Charities

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of Tier 5 (Temporary Worker - Charity Worker) visa applications UK Visas and Immigration has refused in the last four quarters for which information is available.

Caroline Nokes: Information on grants and refusals of applications for entry clearance work visas, by Tier and category, are published in the quarterly Immigration Statistics, Visas data tables volume 1, table vi_01_q, latest edition available from https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2017).

Knives: West Midlands

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of knife crime in (a) the West Midlands and (b) Coventry South constituency since 2010.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office collects data on the number of selected offences involving a knife or a sharp instrument recorded by the police in England and Wales at the police force area level.Data on knife offences at the police force area level can be found in the Home Office Knife Crime Open Data Tables, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tablesTackling knife crime is a priority for the Government. Our work to tackle knife crime is centred on four key strands – working with the police on operations and enforcement, work on the legislative framework, work with retailers on responsible sales, and early intervention and prevention.On 14 October 2017, the Government launched a consultation on new laws on offensive weapons. The consultation was closed on 9 December and we are now considering the responses.The Government continues to encourage police forces to undertake a series of coordinated national weeks of action to tackle knife crime under Operation Sceptre. The operation includes targeting habitual knife carriers, weapon sweeps, test purchases of knives from identified retailers, and the use of surrender bins. We hosted an all force briefing event on Operation Sceptre on 23 January and a record 44 police forces took part in the most recent week of action in the week commencing 12 February 2018.We have awarded £765,000 from the new anti-knife crime community fund launched in October 2017 to support local communities to tackle knife crime. We announced the 47 successful bids in December. In addition, we have announced a further round of the Community Fund of up to £1m in 2018/19 and will be inviting bids in the Spring.The Government’s new Serious Violence Strategy, due to be published in Spring, will put greater focus on steering young people away from a life of crime, while continuing to promote a strong law enforcement response.

Police: Electronic Equipment

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) mobile phones and (b) other electronic devices had data extracted from them using (i) self-service kiosks and (ii) and regional hubs by each UK police force in the last 12 months.

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many UK police forces have written procedures, regulations or guidelines in place governing the use of mobile phone extraction tools.

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has received representations on the deletion of mobile phone data extracted from suspects released without charge; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office does not hold information on the number of mobile phones and other electronic devices that had data extracted using self service kiosks or regional hubs. In addition, the department does not hold information on the number of UK forces that have written procedures, regulations or guidelines governing the use of mobile phone extraction tools. Operational guidance is a matter for policing.The Home Office is not aware of any representations on the deletion of mobile phone data extracted from suspects released without charge.

Asylum: Employment

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers have applied to work in a job on the restricted occupation list after waiting over 12 months for their asylum application to be processed; and how many of these applications were granted, in each year since 2010.

Caroline Nokes: Asylum seekers are not allowed to work in the UK unless their claim has been outstanding for at least 12 months through no fault of their own. Those who are granted permission to work are restricted to jobs on the Shortage Occupation List, which can be found in the Immigration Rules Appendix K: shortage occupation list (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-k-shortage-occupation-list)The data requested on the number of asylum seekers granted permission to work is only held on paper case files or within the notes sections of the Home Office's databases. Therefore the number of asylum seekers granted permission to work who have also been granted asylum and/or humanitarian protection is not aggregated on a national level nor is it held in a reportable format.

Police Custody: Mental Illness

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police detentions there have been under section 130 of the Mental Health Act 1983 in each of the last 10 years.

Mr Nick Hurd: Details of any police involvement in prosecutions instigated by local authorities under section 130 of the Mental Health Act 1983 are not held centrally by the Home Office.

Immigration Enforcement Directorate: Slavery

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information on (a) labour rights and (b) access to advice and remedy is routinely provided to workers during modern slavery operations conducted by Immigration Enforcement.

Caroline Nokes: Immigration Enforcement Compliance (ICE) teams do not routinely carry out MS operations. ICE teams do not provide information on labour rights, access to advice and remedy to workers encountered during operations.When Immigration Enforcement Crime teams (CFI) conduct modern slavery operations or when ICE teams conduct enforcement visits to sectors where modern slavery may be encountered, all staff will be fully trained to identify the indicators of modern slavery and potential victims will be taken to a place of safety and informed of the following rights,Independent emotional and practical supportProtectionAssistance to allow their rights and interests to be presented and considered at appropriate stages of criminal proceedings against offendersStaff will arrange emergency medical treatment, refer potential victims to the NRM and arrange accommodation.

Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority: Undocumented Workers

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cases of illegal working were passed from the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority to Immigration Enforcement in each of the last five years.

Victoria Atkins: The information requested is not collected. Section 19 of the Gangmasters Licensing Act 2004 makes provision for the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority to share information for the purposes of the Act, or for any purpose connected with the exercise of its functions under the Act. This includes sharing intelligence reports with Immigration Enforcement which may include information relating to illegal working.

Police: Mobile Phones

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the regulations, procedures and guidelines on the police using mobile phone extraction tools.

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what comparative assessment her Department has made of the ethnicity of individuals who have had data extracted from their mobile phones by the police compared with the ethnicity of the general population.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office has not made any such assessments. The police are operationally independent of the Home Office and operational guidance is a matter for them. Furthermore, the department does not hold this information on ethnicity.

Police Pursuits: Safety

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to work with police forces to reduce the risk to pedestrians and motorists during high-speed police persuits.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office is undertaking a review of the law, guidance and practice surrounding police pursuits and response driving.As well as seeking the views of other Government departments, the police, the Independent Office for Police Conduct and the Crown Prosecution Service, we have also engaged with those representing other road users to make sure the review reflects the needs of all those affected. The outcome of this review will be completed in due course.

Notting Hill Carnival: Biometrics

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what representations she received prior to the decision of the Metropolitan Police to use automated facial recognition at Notting Hill Carnival in 2016 and 2017.

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the operational justification for the decision made for the Metropolitan Police to use automated facial recognition at Notting Hill Carnival in 2016 and 2017.

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) white, (b) black, (c) Asian and (d) mixed race individuals were on the automated facial recognition watchlist for Notting Hill carnival in 2017.

Mr Nick Hurd: A decision to deploy a facial recognition system is an operational one for the police.

Cabinet Office

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster: Written Questions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of his Department's Answers to Written Parliamentary Questions in the 2017-18 Session to date have referred to the information requested not being (a) collected or (b) collated centrally.

Oliver Dowden: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to PQ120311 on 21st December 2017.

Members: Correspondence

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to respond to Question 118845, tabled by the hon. Member for Oxford East on 12 December 2017.

Oliver Dowden: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to PQ118845 on 7th March 2018.

Utilities: Disclosure of Information

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to bring into force sections 38 and 39 of the Digital Economy Act 2017.

Oliver Dowden: The powers in sections 38 and 39 of the Digital Economy Act 2017, which will help in supporting identification of those eligible for water poverty schemes, will commence once Parliament has debated the supporting codes of practice and regulations for Part 5 of the Act. The timetable will be announced in due course.

Electoral Register: Greater London

Wes Streeting: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent estimate the Government has made of the number of eligible people who are not on the electoral register in (a) the London Borough of Redbridge and (b) each local authority area in London.

Chloe Smith: The Cabinet Office does not hold information on the number of eligible electors in local authorities. Registration statistics are accessible from the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) website (www.ons.gov.uk).Estimates of the number of eligible people not included on electoral registers are published occasionally by the Electoral Commission, but not at sub-regional level. The latest report on register completeness and accuracy was produced by the Electoral Commission in 2016 and is available online (www.electoralcommission.org.uk ).

London Borough of Bromley (Identification in Polling Stations) Pilot Order 2018

Cat Smith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, on what date the London Borough of Bromley (Identification in Polling Stations) Pilot Order 2018 came into force.

Cat Smith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, on what date the Gosport Borough Council (Identification in Polling Stations) Pilot Order 2018 came into force.

Cat Smith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, on what date the Swindon Borough Council (Identification in Polling Stations) Pilot Order 2018 came into force.

Cat Smith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, on what date the Watford Borough Council (Identification in Polling Stations) Pilot Order 2018 came into force.

Cat Smith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, on what date the Woking Borough Council (Identification in Polling Stations) Pilot Order 2018 came into force.

Chloe Smith: The Pilot Orders for Gosport, Watford and Woking were signed and made on 14 January 2018. The Pilot Order for Bromley was signed and made on 16 January 2018 and the Pilot Order for Swindon was signed and made on 21 February 2018. Each of the Orders came into force on the day after the day it was made.

Self-employed

Stephen Timms: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people in the UK are self-employed; and what proportion that number is of (a) people in work and (b) the working age population.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response 
(PDF Document, 68.77 KB)

Treasury

Corporation Tax: Northern Ireland

David Simpson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the document, A Fresh Start, the Stormont agreement and implementation plan, published in November 2015, what the timetable is for a reduction in corporation tax in Northern Ireland.

Mel Stride: The Corporation Tax (Northern Ireland) Act 2015 allows for devolution of power to the Northern Ireland Assembly to set a Northern Ireland rate of corporation tax to apply to certain trading income. This government remains committed to the commencement of this power once, as set out in the Stormont House Agreement, a restored Executive demonstrates that its finances are on a sustainable footing. Subject to this, the UK government will work with a restored Executive to consider a commencement timetable.

Financial Services: Standards

Alex Sobel: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward legislative proposals on the duty of care within the Financial Guidance and Claims Bill.

John Glen: The government believes that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), as the UK’s independent conduct regulator for the financial services industry, is best placed to lead the discussion on the merits of a duty of a care for financial services providers. The FCA have committed to issuing a Discussion Paper on a duty of care later this year. The Paper will invite contributions from all interested parties on the case for and against a duty of care, what form such a provision might take, and consequential issues arising from adopting it. This will be an open process designed to gather views. In this context, the government welcomes the FCA’s continued commitment to this debate, and we do not think an amendment to the Financial Guidance and Claims Bill would be appropriate.

Revenue and Customs: ICT

Jon Trickett: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2018 to Question 128292, on Revenue and Customs: ICT, which contracts the HMRC has let and taken on as part of the Aspire exit; and how the £200 million a year by 2020-21 figure referred to in that Answer was calculated.

Mel Stride: Following the Aspire exit HMRC has let contracts in relation to Managed Desktop Service (MDS), Managed Print Service (MPS), Bulk Scanning and Bulk Printing. As part of the phased exit HMRC also entered into new agreements with former Aspire providers and novated over 100 sub-contracts that were previously managed by our suppliers. The savings were calculated through the use of a detailed model taking account of the impacts of all of HMRC’s Aspire exit activities and using a baseline of 2014/15.

Living Wage

Paul Blomfield: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information on (a) labour rights and (b) access to advice and remedy is routinely provided to workers who (i) file a complaint with and (ii) are encountered during inspections conducted by HMRC National Living Wage enforcement teams.

Paul Blomfield: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many cases of migrants working undocumented were passed from his Department's national minimum wage team to Immigration Enforcement in each of the last five years.

Mel Stride: The government is determined that everyone who is entitled to the National Minimum and Living Wage (NMW) receives it. Anyone who feels they have been underpaid NMW should contact the Acas helpline on 0300 123 1100. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) review all complaints that are referred to them. HMRC provides general information on NMW entitlement to workers who make a NMW complaint; this includes a worker’s right to pursue any NMW arrears through an employment tribunal and the applicable time limits. If HMRC opens an NMW investigation, regular updates on the progression of the case are provided to the impacted workers. If HMRC encounters other impacted workers in the course of an NMW investigation, general information on HMRC’s enforcement of NMW legislation is provided. HMRC does not record data on referrals made to the Home Office in relation to undocumented migrants, however does work collaboratively with the Home Office and other enforcement bodies on tackling NMW, illegal working and wider labour market risks.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Channel Four Television: Location

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress has been made on the planned move of Channel 4 out of London.

Margot James: I refer the Hon Member to the reply to question 131842 answered on 14th March.

Charity Commission

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he consulted the Public Appointments Commissioner on the appointment of the Chair of the Charity Commission before that appointment was publicly announced; and if he will make a statement.

Tracey Crouch: As is routine with most high profile appointments, the Commissioner for Public Appointments, reviewed the interview panel report for this role before an announcement was made detailing a preferred candidate. He has confirmed that ‘the report of the panel indicates that the interviews and the assessment were conducted in line with the Government's Governance Code on a fair and equal basis’.

Gaming Machines

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what limit has been placed on the number of fixed-odds betting terminals which can be situated in work-place staff canteens.

Tracey Crouch: B2 gaming machines (more commonly known as Fixed-Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs) which have a maximum stake of £100) are not permitted in work-place staff canteens. They can only be made available in casinos, betting shops or at tracks where pool betting is licensed.

Tourism

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much money has been spent on promoting British tourism in (a) Europe, (b) Asia, (c) North America and (d) in total in each year since 2010.

Michael Ellis: VisitBritain and VisitEngland are responsible for promoting the UK as a tourist destination, through a range of different initiatives and campaigns. VisitBritain receive grant-in-aid totalling £19.4m from DCMS and VisitEngland receive £7m. They also receive £22.8m of GREAT funding to support promotion activities. For every £1 the Government has invested in VisitBritain for international marketing, an overseas visitor spends £20 in Britain.Additionally, in 2017 VisitBritain participated in travel trade missions across the world such as Destination Britain: China, the World Travel Market, World Routes and Destination Britain: North America. They also hold a variety of domestic promotion events throughout the country.

Tourism

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, (a) how many trips were made, (b)  how many nights were stayed, (c) how much was spent, for the purpose of visiting friends and relatives in each of the regions of England in 2017.

Michael Ellis: Data held by VisitBritain shows that visits to friends and relatives accounted for 31.1m visits made in England and 35.5m in Great Britain in year to date figures up to November 2017. During these visits, £3.4bn was spent in England and visitors stayed for a total of 81.5m nights, while they spent £4.1bn and stayed a total of 95.3m nights in Great Britain as a whole.

Department for International Trade

Honduras: Electronic Surveillance

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: Pursuant to the Answer of 8 March 2018 to Question 130861, on Honduras: Electronic Surveillance, if the surveillance equipment has been exported from the UK to Honduras.

Graham Stuart: I can confirm the goods have now been exported. At the time these items were presented for export we remained satisfied that the licence complied with the Consolidated Criteria.

House of Commons Commission

House of Commons: Fairtrade Initiative

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, what steps the Commission has taken to stock (a) fair trade wines and (b) other fair trade products.

Tom Brake: Holding answer received on 12 March 2018



Fairtrade products are sold by Catering Services across Parliament which include a variety of popular drinks and snacks labelled with the 'Fairtrade' mark or sticker on packaged products. No fair trade wines are stocked at the current time.Catering Services recognises and supports Fair Trade Fortnight. It makes catering customers aware of Fair Trade Fortnight through promotional screens in the catering venues as well as informing people about the Fair Trade organisation through table talkers and posters across the estate in catering venues.

Women and Equalities

Females: Homelessness

Rosie Duffield: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps the Government is taking to support the promotion of United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5, on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, for women and girls who are homeless.

Victoria Atkins: The promotion of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5 and other related targets remains a priority for the Government both domestically and internationally. Government policies, such as those to support vulnerable women and girls including those that are homeless, will help us achieve the implementation of the goals.